Chronic Pain in the Elderly

November 6, 2006

Call to Action by Canadian Pain Coalition

November 6, 2006 – Launching National Pain Awareness Week and the fact that it is also Global Year Against Pain in Older Persons, the Canadian Pain Coalition (CPC) is drawing attention to the burden of chronic pain in the elderly because of the special needs required by this population in assessing, managing and treating their pain. Over the next ten years Canada will undergo a major shift that will be unprecedented in this country. There will be more people aged 65 and over than there will be children aged 15 and under.

“Canada is not ready for this, older persons are more likely to suffer from chronic pain than younger people and it can dominate their lives. Pain can be severe for many older persons and it can last for several years or even the rest of their lives,” said Celeste Johnson, executive director of the Canadian Pain Coalition. “We recognize that understanding and treating pain in older persons can be very complex for both healthcare professionals and patients alike and we feel there is an urgent need to specially target the needs of pain in older persons in our community.”

More than a symptom, a silent epidemic

Persistent (i.e., chronic) pain affects more than 50 per cent of older persons living in the community and more than 80 per cent of nursing home residents.^1,2 Yet, despite the fact that chronic pain is more common in the elderly, the vast majority of pain treatment studies and intervention trials have been conducted in younger adult populations.³

Examples of chronic pain conditions that are common in older Canadians include:

• Osteoarthritis (more than 75 per cent over 70 years of age are affected⁴)
• Pain from shingles (one in two people will experience shingles by the age of 85 and one third over the age of 60 will develop serious pain complication as a result⁵)
• Cancer (60 per cent of deaths occur in those aged 70 years or more and pain occurs in more than 80 per cent of cancer patients before death^6,7)

“I’ve been living with chronic pain for many years and it takes a major personal effort just to get through each day,” said Helen Tupper, chronic pain sufferer. “The more we find out about chronic pain and how it affects our lives the better informed we become in finding solutions to conquer it.”

Action response

The CPC hopes that the National Pain Awareness Week initiative will act as a springboard to:

• Promote sustained change and improvement in pain management in Canada
• Increase public awareness and funding relative to pain
• Change perceptions so that chronic pain is seen as an illness, not a symptom
• Have pain targeted as a health priority
• Increase funding for pain research
• Establish more pain treatment facilities

In order to help support its activities, the highlight of National Pain Awareness Week (November 5 to 11) will be The Gala Fundraising Dinner that takes place on the evening of November 9th. Well-known entertainment personality Mary Walsh (CBC television’s "This Hour Has 22 Minutes”), who has experienced chronic pain, will speak at the event along with readings from writer Elizabeth MacCallum who suffers chronic pain.

About the Canadian Pain Coalition

The Canadian Pain Coalition is focused on raising public awareness of the health, social, psychological and economic issues of pain and ensuring that this condition becomes a priority issue for Canada’s health system. It has recently developed information for people with chronic pain to help them gain knowledge and take a more active role in decreasing their pain. CPC membership is mainly drawn from consumer and patient groups who, along with health professionals and scientists, are working to reduce the prevalence of pain in Canada. The Coalition was formed in 2002 and incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in 2005. The CPC established National Pain Awareness Week during the first week of November in order to raise awareness of the prevalence of pain as well as the need for better diagnosis and treatment of pain of all types. For more information about the CPC and its programs please visit our web site at www.canadianpaincoalition.ca.

Sources

1. Ferrell BA, et al. L. Pain in cognitively impaired nursing home patients. J Pain Sympt Manage 1995;10:591-8

2. Helme RD, Gibson SJ. The epidemiology of pain in elderly people. Clin Geriatr Med 2001;17:417-31

3. Gibson SJ. Older people’s pain. Pain: Clinical Updates 2006;14:1-4

4. Veterans Affairs Canada - Disability Pensions web site consulted October 31, 2006 (http://www.vacacc.gc.ca/clients/sub.cfm?source=dispen/elguide/osteoosteo)

5. Guenther, L. Herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia, Expert Rev. Dermatol. 1(4), 607-618 (2006)

6. Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Cancer Statistics 2006

7. Bruera E, Watanabe S. New developments in the assessment of pain in cancer patients. Support Care Cancer. 1994 Sept;2(5):312-8

Medical Expert and Patient Available for Interviews

For More Information Please Contact:

Halifax
Adele MacLean
(902) 420 -1860
ext. 263

Montreal
Roch Landriault
(514) 843-2345

Ottawa
David Rodier /
Melissa Wood
(613) 233-1699

Toronto
Michelle Marchione
(416) 848-1419

Calgary
Olivia Pavel
(403) 531-0331

Vancouver
Michelle Ward
(604) 684-6655