Pain and health-care utilization among older men in a veterans care home

Pain is a common health-care issue, and the prevalence increases with advancing age. Although it is often assumed that people with chronic pain are associated with a higher consumption of health care, evidence supporting this assertion is insufficient. Data from the Longitudinal Older VEterans (LOVE) study were stratified to explore the prevalence of pain and its relationship with health-care utilization. In total, data from 574 residents (mean age: 80.9±5.4 years, all male) were obtained. Among them, 92.8% were physically independent and 20.2% of them had mild to moderate cognitive impairment. Overall, 153 (26.3%) subjects reported pain; 114 (74.5%) subjects with mild pain and the remaining 39 (25.5%) subjects with moderate pain. The most commonly reported pain was lower back pain (40.5%, 62/153), which was followed by joint pain (29.4%, 45/153). Subjects with pain were more likely to have higher scores on the Geriatric Depression Scale (2.4±2.4 vs. 1.8±2.2, p = 0.023) and care-complexity problems (4.7±2.0 vs. 3.9±1.9, p < 0.001), despite being similar in age (81.3±5.0 vs. 80.8±5.5, p = 0.271), cognitive status and physical independence. Compared with pain-free subjects, subjects with pain were more likely to be hospitalized in the 12-month study period (0.71±1.20 vs. 0.46±1.00, p = 0.010), but the utilization of emergency department treatment (1.74±1.23 vs. 1.88±1.63, p = 0.560) was not statistically significant. In conclusion, the prevalence of pain among residents in a Taiwanese veterans care home was 26.3%; subjects with pain having more depressive symptoms, higher clinical-care complexity, and more likely to be hospitalized during the 12-month follow-up.