Chronic pain in elderly caregivers at different levels of frailty

Quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study. The subjects were 187 elderly caregivers evaluated with a Multidimensional Pain Assessment Scale and the Fried Frailty Phenotype Assessment Components. Descriptive and comparative analyzes, Pearson’s chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used.

Results

24.1% of the caregivers were frail, 55.1% pre-frail and 20.9% non-frail. The only socio-demographic variable that differed between the three groups was age (p=0.03). Mean pain intensity values were as follows: frail elderly (6.98), pre-frail (6.38) and non-frail (5.85). However, these differences were not significant (p=0.150).

Conclusions

The present study did not find a significant difference in the intensity of chronic pain in elderly. Nevertheless, it is essential that health professionals and health care public policies give special attention to older caregivers.

Caregivers; Frail elderly; Chronic pain

Group	Frail		Pre-frail		Non-frail		Total		Comparative analysis

Variables	n	%	n	%	n	%	n	%	X ²	Gl	p*
Gender									0.099*	2	0.952 ns
Female	36	80.0	84	18.4	31	79.5	151	80.7
Male	9	20.0	19	81.6	8	20.5	36	19.3
Total	45	100	103	100	39	100	187	100
Marital status									6.237*	6	0.397 ns
Living with a partner	39	86.7	91	88.3	36	92.3	166	88.8
Single	1	2.2	7	6.8	1	2.6	9	4.8
Separated	1	2.2	3	2.9	1	2.6	5	2.7
Widowed	4	8.9	2	1.9	1	2,6	7	3,7
Total	45	100	103	100	39	100	187	100
Works outside the home									1.090*	2	0.580 ns
Yes	8	17.8	21	20.4	5	12.8	34	18.2
No	37	82.2	82	79.6	34	87.2	153	81.8
Total	45	100	103	100	39	100	187	100
Age (years)									7.007*	2	0.030
Mean	70.98		69.09		66.23		68.95
Median	70.00		68.00		65.00		67.00
Standard deviation	8.52		6.88		4.60		7.07
Minimum	60		60		60		60
Maximum	91		95		78		95
Interquartile ranges
Q1	63.50		64.00		63.00		63.00
Q2	70.00		68.00		65.00		67.00
Q3	77.50		74.00		69.00		73.00
Schooling (years)									4.835*	2	0.089 ns
Mean	3.06		4.40		4.69		4.13
Median	3.00		4.00		4.00		4.00
Standard deviation	2.71		3.80		3.90		3.62
Minimum	0		0		0		0
Maximum	16		17		15		17
Interquartile ranges
Q1	1.50		2.00		2.00		2.00
Q2	3.00		4.00		4.00		4.00
Q3	4.00		5.00		4.00		4.00
Caregiver’s income (R$)									1.888*	2	0.389 ns
Mean	380.62		788.71		761.64		756.53
Median	724.00		724.00		724.00		724.00
Standard deviation	517.79		868.06		1118.75		856.73
Minimum	0.00		0.00		0.00		0.00
Maximum	2100.00		6500.00		4500.00		6500.00
Interquartile ranges
Q1	150.00		240.00		0.00		0.00
Q2	724.00		724.00		724.00		724.00
Q3	805.00		724.00		724.00		740.50

Perceived pain intensity	Groups

	Frail		Pre-frail		Non-frail		Total

	n	n	n	%	n	%	n	%
None (0)	1	1	2	1.9	2	5.1	5	9.2
Mild (1 to 3)	3	3	6	5.9	6	15.4	15	27.9
Moderate (4 to 6)	14	14	47	45.7	12	30.8	73	107.6
Intense (7 to 9)	18	18	37	35.9	17	43.5	72	119.4
Unbearable (10)	9	9	11	10.7	2	5.1	22	35.8

Groups	Descriptive Analysis of Pain

	Mean	Median	SD	Minimum	Maximum
Frail	6.98	8.00	2.491	0	10
Pre-frail	6.38	6.00	2.223	0	10
Non-frail	5.85	6.00	2.796	0	10

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Escola de Enfermagem Rua São Manoel, 963 -Campus da Saúde , 90.620-110 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brasil, Fone: (55 51) 3308-5242 / Fax: (55 51) 3308-5436 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brazil
E-mail: revista@enf.ufrgs.br

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[1] Corresponding author: Daiene de Morais E-mail: daienemorais1@gmail.com