The role of pain in the last year of life of older persons
Article Abstract:
Advances in medicine have prolonged the life span, and as a consequence there has been an increase in the physical ailments that people typically endure before they die. Often, pain is an aspect of these illnesses, and presumably, for many people, pain is at its maximum during the last year of life. In a retrospective study involving family members of 200 deceased older adults, information was gathered on the prevalence and intensity of pain during the last year of life and was compared with a matched sample of still-living older adults. The effect of pain on quality of life was evaluated as well. The average age of subjects was 77.4 years at the time of death (all were over 65 years old), 54 percent were female, more than 36 percent were married, and two-thirds were white. Income was about $6,000 per year for single adults, and $9,500 for couples. Pain increased for this sample over the final year of life - it was reported that 66 percent of subjects felt pain frequently, which was significantly more than the 24 percent of still-living subjects reporting frequent pain. Pain affected most of the quality of life factors measured, including physical functioning, perceived quality of life, and psychological well-being as measured by the presence of depression. A decrease in happiness and an increase in depression were correlated with pain when other variables were controlled. Hope and interest in the world, however, did not seem to be significantly affected by pain. Interestingly, the older old were reported to have had less pain than the younger old. It is suggested, therefore, that pain plays a large role for at least two-thirds of elderly adults in their last year of life, and that pain is an important factor in determining their quality of life. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1991
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Time use of caregivers of impaired elders before and after institutionalization
Article Abstract:
Time use of caregivers of impaired elders before and after being placed in nursing homes was studied among 165 respondents. Longer caregiving hours were given by those who were living with the elderly and by unemployed and lower income caregivers.About an hour and 47 minutes was gained by caregivers following admission of the elderly to the nursing home. The gained time was allotted to family interaction, recreation and time away from home.
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1993
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Psychometric characteristics of the Minimum Data Set I: confirmatory factor analysis
Article Abstract:
The Minimum Data Set (MDS) may not be accurate in assessing nursing home residents who have cognitive impairment. Researchers used confirmatory, hypothesis-testing factor analysis on the MDS protocols of 733 nursing home residents. In the 336 patients with good mental status, all the domain clusters except social quality were confirmed. However, none were confirmed in the 391 patients with cognitive impairment.
Publication Name: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0002-8614
Year: 1998
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