ReviewBiomolecules2021
Chronic Pain in the Elderly: Mechanisms and Distinctive Features.
Review in Biomolecules, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- [Pain management in geriatric patients-methods paper for the S3 guideline "GeriPAIN"].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Guideline
- Efficacy of esketamine on perioperative anxiety in patients receiving anesthesia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Investigating the effects of implementing the family health nurse model on the self-management of elderly individuals with hypertension: a randomized controlled trial.BMC primary care · 2025Trial
- Individualizing Perioperative Analgesia: Patient-Specific Determinants of Postoperative Pain and Opioid-Related Outcomes.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Review
- Aging-Related Changes in the Injury Response of the Peripheral Nervous System.Neuroscience bulletin · 2026Review
- Machine Learning-Based Multidimensional Health Decline Prediction Framework: Data-Driven Modeling for the Middle-Aged and Elderly Population.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Review
- Chronic Pain and Opioids in the Elderly: Treating the Brain, Not Just the Body.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Review
- Altered static-dynamic interhemispheric connectivity and transcriptional features underlying lateralization in patients with migraine.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Investigation of Night Pain in Geriatric Regional Degenerative Pain and Associated Conditions.The Eurasian journal of medicine · 2026Article
- Gaining the Upper Hand? Further Evidence of Pain as a Pleasurable Experience and the Unexpected Relationship Between Sadomasochistic Sexual Preference and Chronic Pain.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Assessment of central pain sensitization in chronic low back pain and its utility in diagnosis and prediction of clinical severity.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Chronic Pain in Elderly Patients: Pathophysiology, Pharmacologic and Non-Pharmacologic Therapies, and Interventional Management.Clinical pharmacology : advances and applications · 2026Review
- Pain differences in cognitive impairment appear only during active motor tasks.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Complementary and alternative medicine use and pain characteristics in older Vietnamese adults with chronic pain: A cross-sectional study.Belitung nursing journal · 2026Article
- Myofascial pain in older adults: a geroscience-informed framework integrating precision geriatrics and digital therapeutics.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Review
- Chronic pain and mortality risk among middle-age and older Japanese: the Shika town cohort study.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Prevalence and Types of Chronic Pain among Insured Individuals with Tic Disorders.Movement disorders clinical practice · 2025Article
- Development and testing of a predictive model of symptoms for pain in community-dwelling frail older people in palliative care.BMC palliative care · 2025Observational
- Musculoskeletal pain in an ageing population: a cross-sectional analysis of the Maastricht study.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChronic pain is a major issue affecting more than 50% of the older population and up to 80% of nursing homes residents. Research on pain in the elderly focuses mainly on the development of clinical tools to assess pain in patients with dementia and cognitive impairment or on the efficacy and tolerability of medications. In this review, we searched for evidence of specific pain mechanisms or modifications in pain signals processing either at the cellular level or in the central nervous system.
methodsNarrative review.
resultsInvestigation on pain sensitivity led to conflicting results, with some studies indicating a modest decrease in age-related pain sensitivity, while other researchers found a reduced pain threshold for pressure stimuli. Areas of the brain involved in pain perception and analgesia are susceptible to pathological changes such as gliosis and neuronal death and the effectiveness of descending pain inhibitory mechanisms, particularly their endogenous opioid component, also appears to deteriorate with advancing age. Hyperalgesia is more common at older age and recovery from peripheral nerve injury appears to be delayed. In addition, peripheral nociceptors may contribute minimally to pain sensation at either acute or chronic time points in aged populations.
conclusionsElderly subjects appear to be more susceptible to prolonged pain development, and medications acting on peripheral sensitization are less efficient. Pathologic changes in the central nervous system are responsible for different pain processing and response to treatment. Specific guidelines focusing on specific pathophysiological changes in the elderly are needed to ensure adequate treatment of chronic pain conditions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.