PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify the pain characteristics, family support and physical functioning and to determine predictors of the quality of life in aged women with chronic pain. METHOD: The questionnaires were collected through direct interview by a trained research assistant from July 2 to August 24, 2001. Subjects were 108 women clients with chronic pain over 65 years of age. Data analyzed frequency, percentage, mean, Pearson's correlation, ANOVA and stepwise multiple regression by SAS. RESULT: Care providers were mostly spouses and daughters in law. Care providers who took care of elderly for a few hours a day had the highest percentile. Aged women had persistently had chronic pain of moderate intensity and was moderately satisfied with pain management. The mean score of disability due to pain was 3 on a 10 point scale. The mean scores of physical function and quality of life were moderate and there were negative correlations between pain characteristics, physical functioning, and quality of life at the range from r=-.46 to r=-.83. Satisfaction with care, duration of pain, disability due to pain, and physical functioning accounted for 56% of the variance in perceived quality of life for aged women with chronic pain. Disability due to pain was the most predictable variable of quality of life and physical function was the second . CONCLUSION: The results suggest that care by family, education in pain control, prevention of disability, and maintenance of physical function are important to improve and maintain quality of life in aged women with chronic pain. Therefore, there is a need for program development that enhance family support and nursing intervention that focuses on active pain control.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by  

• Effects of Liquid Soap Manufactured with Vegetable Fatty Acid and Essential Oil by Hand on the Foot Skin of the Elderly
  Mi-Young Gu, Soo-Yean Oh, Hwa-Jung Choi
  Journal of the Korean Society of Cosmetology.2022; 28(2): 233.     CrossRef
• Pain, Wisdom and Health Conservation in Older Adults with Chronic Diseases
  Kiwol Sung
  Journal of Korean Gerontological Nursing.2014; 16(1): 85.     CrossRef
• Effects of Tai Chi Exercise on Physical Fitness and Quality of Life in Elderly Women
  Jung Ah Park, Sook Young Kim
  The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing.2014; 17(1): 38.     CrossRef
• Factors contributing to the use of complementary and alternative medicine in rural older women with chronic pain in South Korea
  Saunjoo L. Yoon, Jeong-Hee Kim
  Applied Nursing Research.2013; 26(4): 186.     CrossRef
• Relationship between Low Back Pain and Health-Related Quality of Life among Some Elderly
  Kyeong-Ae Oh, Jong Park, Dae-Jung Jeon, Mi-Ah Han, Seong-Woo Choi
  Journal of agricultural medicine and community health.2012; 37(3): 156.     CrossRef
• Relationships among the Pain Belief, Pain Coping, and Pain Disability of Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain
  Sung-Nam Choi, Jeong-Hwa Kim
  The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing.2012; 15(1): 30.     CrossRef
• Alternative View of Health Behavior: The Experience of Older Korean Women
  Jin Hyang Yang, Bok Sun Yang
  Qualitative Health Research.2011; 21(3): 324.     CrossRef
• EFFICACY OF QI-THERAPY (EXTERNAL QIGONG) FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC PAIN
  KYUNG HEE YANG, YOUNG HEE KIM, MYEONG SOO LEE
  International Journal of Neuroscience.2005; 115(7): 949.     CrossRef