2Atatürk Üniversitesi, Hemşirelik Yüksekokulu Hemşirelik, ERZURUM
3Mersin Üniversitesi, Sağlık Yüksekokulu, Hemşirelik, MERSİN
4Uludağ Üniversitesi, Sağlık Yüksekokulu, Hemşirelik, BURSA
5Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Nöroloji Anabilim Dalı, ÇANAKKALE Introduction: The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence of pain, chronic pain, the pain sites and the effect of demographic characteristics on those in the general elderly population.
Material and Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Çanakkale, Erzurum, Malatya and Mersin city-centers. The study group consisted of 1053 elderly people. Data were collected between March 2006 and September 2006 using a survey form developed by the researchers. Data were analyzed with SPSS 10.0 for Windows. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, chi square test and one way ANOVA test were used.
Results: The prevalence of pain and chronic pain were found to be 88.5% (n=932), and 64.7% (n=681) respectively. 49.4% of the elderly experienced pain every day. The most common pain sites were head (27.3%), back-low back (24.6%) and leg-knee (18.5%). Variables such as city of residence, gender, occupation, and presence of chronic illness were found to affect the prevalence of pain and pain sites significantly.
Conclusion: The prevalence of chronic pain and pain of any cause is high, and it is affected by certain demographic characteristics in the general elderly population.
Keywords : Elderly, Pain, Prevalence, Pain site, Chronic pain, Socio-demographic characteristics