YF Tsai et al. Pain Prevalence, Experiences, and Self-Care Management Strategies Among the Community-Dwelling Elderly in Taiwan. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management, July 31, 2010.

Tsai and colleagues explored pain prevalence, experiences, and self-care management strategies among community-dwelling elderly in Taiwan. A convenience sample of elderly persons (n=1054) was recruited from outpatient clinics of two hospitals in northern Taiwan. Participants' pain prevalence was 50.0%, and the average number of pain sites was 3.9 (standard deviation [SD]=5.8). Knees were the most commonly described pain sites, but the most painful site was the spinal cord area. The mean pain intensity was 3.1 (SD=1.8) and pain interference was 2.8 (SD=2.1). Most participants took prescribed medications to deal with pain; doctors were the main information source for this self-care strategy. Although participants reported using various self-care pain management strategies, most still reported moderate-to-severe worst pain. Moreover, our participants identified far fewer self-care strategies than U.S. elders with chronic pain. These findings suggest that community-dwelling elders in Taiwan know little about managing pain symptoms or ascribe a different meaning to pain than their U.S. counterparts.

WHAT THE STUDY MAY MEAN TO YOU AS A HEALTH CARE PROVIDER: Because health care providers play an important role in helping the elderly to manage pain, the authors recommend training health care providers about Taiwanese elders' perceptions of pain, to perform regular pain assessments, and provide current knowledge about pain assessment and pain management strategies.

WHAT THE STUDY MAY MEAN TO YOU AS A HEALTH CARE CONSUMER:
This seems a prototypical issue where self-management would be of value. It is hoped that the authors go in this direction.