Role of Psychopathology in Chronic Pain in the Elderly

Abstract

As the body ages, a number of painful diseases begin to make their appearance (Rowe & Besdine, 1982; Kwentus et al., 1985; Melding, 1991). In addition, the elderly are more at risk from the long-term effects of accidents, which often take longer to heal and result in chronic pain (Rubenstein & Robbins, 1984). As a result, most studies tend to report rather high rates of incidence and prevalence of painful problems in the elderly. Demlo et al. (1986) reported that approximately 80% of an elderly sample reported rheumatic complaints alone. Other studies (Roy & Thomas, 1986; Thomas & Roy, 1988a; Mobily et al., 1994) found over 80% of their elderly samples reported pain problems across combined pain sites. Sternbach (1986a) reported on a sample of elderly subjects (age 65 and older), which constituted 16% of the total population from a national United States survey. He found that (1) 50% reported headaches, (2) 49% reported backaches, (3) 42% reported muscle pains, (4) 31% reported stomach pains, and (5) 71% reported joint pain in the past year. Clearly, chronic pain has a high prevalence in the elderly. A critical issue then becomes what is the role of psychopathology either in the etiology of or response to chronic pain in the elderly.