More than one-quarter of seniors living at home report chronic pain: StatsCan
Feb 21, 2008
TORONTO - More than one-quarter of Canadian seniors living in households and almost 40 per cent of those in institutions experience pain on a regular basis, says a Statistics Canada study released Thursday.
Not surprisingly, a high proportion of those with chronic pain found it had an impact on their quality of life.
And it was associated with higher odds of being unhappy for those who had an increase in pain over a two-year period.
Researchers say this has implications as the boomers age. By 2031, an estimated 8.9 million to 9.4 million Canadians will be seniors.
Canada is facing an "age tsunami," he said, and needs to get ready for more people with chronic illnesses that cause pain.
Quality of life declines when people miss social engagements, networking and intimacy, and this can lead to depression.
"It's definitely not something that we should downplay," said Tripp. "It is significant and the reason we should pay a lot of attention to it is because it's treatable, even in the elderly."
(abridged article) SOURCE: canadianpress
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The "tsunami of elderly/seniors" is a world-wide problem. Governments must prepare for this growing problem. Often, the balancing act between aged care, taxes and pleasing the majority of the electorate has to be done "gingerly". The message to the younger folks should be: " You will need these services in the future."
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