The effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological methods of managing pain in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review

Angel Shuk Kwan Tang; Mimi Mun Yee Tse; Sau Fong Leung; Theo Fotis

doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7831-9

The effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological methods of managing pain in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review

Angel Shuk Kwan Tang , Mimi Mun Yee Tse, Sau Fong Leung, Theo Fotis

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Background
Pain is common in older adults. To maintain their quality of life and promote healthy ageing in the community, it is important to lower their pain levels. Pharmacological pain management has been shown to be effective in older adults. However, as drugs can have various side effects, non-pharmacological pain management is preferred for community-dwelling older adults. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological pain management interventions for community-dwelling older adults.
Methods
Five databases, namely, CINHAL, Journals@Ovid, Medline, PsycInfo, and PubMed, were searched for articles. The criteria for inclusion were: full-text articles published in English from 2005 to February 2019 on randomized controlled trials, with chronic non-cancer pain as the primary outcome, in which pain was rated by intensity, using non-pharmacological interventions, and with participants over 65 years old, community-dwelling, and mentally competent. A quality appraisal using the Jadad Scale was conducted on the included articles.
Results
Ten articles were included. The mean age of the older adults was from 66.75 to 76. The interventions covered were acupressure, acupuncture, guided imagery, qigong, periosteal stimulation, and Tai Chi. The pain intensities of the participants decreased after the implementation of the intervention. The net changes in pain intensity ranged from − 3.13 to − 0.65 on a zero to ten numeric rating scale, in which zero indicates no pain and ten represents the worst pain.
Conclusions
Non-pharmacological methods of managing pain were effective in lowering pain levels in community-dwelling older adults, and can be promoted widely in the community.

Original language	English
Article number	1488
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	BMC Public Health
Volume	19
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7831-9
Publication status	Published - 8 Nov 2019

Bibliographical note

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Keywords

Digital
Health
Chronic pain
Aged
Older adults
Community-dwelling
Non-pharmacological interventions
Complementary therapy
Systematic review

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10.1186/s12889-019-7831-9Licence: CC BY

The effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological methods of managing pain in communitydwelling older adults: a systematic reviewFinal published version, 877 KBLicence: CC BY

The effectiveness of an electronic pain management programme (ePain) for working population with chronic pain: A randomized controlled trial
Theo Fotis (Supervisor)
2018 → …
Activity: External examination and supervision › Research degree

Cite this

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title = "The effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological methods of managing pain in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review",

abstract = "BackgroundPain is common in older adults. To maintain their quality of life and promote healthy ageing in the community, it is important to lower their pain levels. Pharmacological pain management has been shown to be effective in older adults. However, as drugs can have various side effects, non-pharmacological pain management is preferred for community-dwelling older adults. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological pain management interventions for community-dwelling older adults.MethodsFive databases, namely, CINHAL, Journals@Ovid, Medline, PsycInfo, and PubMed, were searched for articles. The criteria for inclusion were: full-text articles published in English from 2005 to February 2019 on randomized controlled trials, with chronic non-cancer pain as the primary outcome, in which pain was rated by intensity, using non-pharmacological interventions, and with participants over 65 years old, community-dwelling, and mentally competent. A quality appraisal using the Jadad Scale was conducted on the included articles.ResultsTen articles were included. The mean age of the older adults was from 66.75 to 76. The interventions covered were acupressure, acupuncture, guided imagery, qigong, periosteal stimulation, and Tai Chi. The pain intensities of the participants decreased after the implementation of the intervention. The net changes in pain intensity ranged from − 3.13 to − 0.65 on a zero to ten numeric rating scale, in which zero indicates no pain and ten represents the worst pain.ConclusionsNon-pharmacological methods of managing pain were effective in lowering pain levels in community-dwelling older adults, and can be promoted widely in the community.",

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author = "Tang, {Angel Shuk Kwan} and Tse, {Mimi Mun Yee} and Leung, {Sau Fong} and Theo Fotis",

note = "This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.",

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doi = "10.1186/s12889-019-7831-9",

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T1 - The effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological methods of managing pain in community-dwelling older adults

T2 - a systematic review

AU - Tang , Angel Shuk Kwan

AU - Tse, Mimi Mun Yee

AU - Leung, Sau Fong

AU - Fotis, Theo

N1 - This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

PY - 2019/11/8

Y1 - 2019/11/8

N2 - BackgroundPain is common in older adults. To maintain their quality of life and promote healthy ageing in the community, it is important to lower their pain levels. Pharmacological pain management has been shown to be effective in older adults. However, as drugs can have various side effects, non-pharmacological pain management is preferred for community-dwelling older adults. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological pain management interventions for community-dwelling older adults.MethodsFive databases, namely, CINHAL, Journals@Ovid, Medline, PsycInfo, and PubMed, were searched for articles. The criteria for inclusion were: full-text articles published in English from 2005 to February 2019 on randomized controlled trials, with chronic non-cancer pain as the primary outcome, in which pain was rated by intensity, using non-pharmacological interventions, and with participants over 65 years old, community-dwelling, and mentally competent. A quality appraisal using the Jadad Scale was conducted on the included articles.ResultsTen articles were included. The mean age of the older adults was from 66.75 to 76. The interventions covered were acupressure, acupuncture, guided imagery, qigong, periosteal stimulation, and Tai Chi. The pain intensities of the participants decreased after the implementation of the intervention. The net changes in pain intensity ranged from − 3.13 to − 0.65 on a zero to ten numeric rating scale, in which zero indicates no pain and ten represents the worst pain.ConclusionsNon-pharmacological methods of managing pain were effective in lowering pain levels in community-dwelling older adults, and can be promoted widely in the community.

AB - BackgroundPain is common in older adults. To maintain their quality of life and promote healthy ageing in the community, it is important to lower their pain levels. Pharmacological pain management has been shown to be effective in older adults. However, as drugs can have various side effects, non-pharmacological pain management is preferred for community-dwelling older adults. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological pain management interventions for community-dwelling older adults.MethodsFive databases, namely, CINHAL, Journals@Ovid, Medline, PsycInfo, and PubMed, were searched for articles. The criteria for inclusion were: full-text articles published in English from 2005 to February 2019 on randomized controlled trials, with chronic non-cancer pain as the primary outcome, in which pain was rated by intensity, using non-pharmacological interventions, and with participants over 65 years old, community-dwelling, and mentally competent. A quality appraisal using the Jadad Scale was conducted on the included articles.ResultsTen articles were included. The mean age of the older adults was from 66.75 to 76. The interventions covered were acupressure, acupuncture, guided imagery, qigong, periosteal stimulation, and Tai Chi. The pain intensities of the participants decreased after the implementation of the intervention. The net changes in pain intensity ranged from − 3.13 to − 0.65 on a zero to ten numeric rating scale, in which zero indicates no pain and ten represents the worst pain.ConclusionsNon-pharmacological methods of managing pain were effective in lowering pain levels in community-dwelling older adults, and can be promoted widely in the community.

KW - Digital

KW - Health

KW - Chronic pain

KW - Aged

KW - Older adults

KW - Community-dwelling

KW - Non-pharmacological interventions

KW - Complementary therapy

KW - Systematic review

U2 - 10.1186/s12889-019-7831-9

DO - 10.1186/s12889-019-7831-9

M3 - Article

SN - 1471-2458

VL - 19

SP - 1

EP - 10

JO - BMC Public Health

JF - BMC Public Health

IS - 1

M1 - 1488

ER -

The effectiveness, suitability, and sustainability of non-pharmacological methods of managing pain in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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Activities

The effectiveness of an electronic pain management programme (ePain) for working population with chronic pain: A randomized controlled trial

Cite this