Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35380373›Full record

ReviewPain and therapy2022

Opioids in the Elderly Patients with Cognitive Impairment: A Narrative Review.

M Rekatsina, A Paladini, O Viswanath, I Urits, D Myrcik, J Pergolizzi, F Breve, G Varrassi

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Pain and therapy, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Observational
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Mechanisms of comorbidity between Alzheimer's disease and pain.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Review
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.

M RekatsinaMid and South, Essex University Hospitals Group, Orsett Hospital, Grays, RM16 3EU, Essex, UK.
A PaladiniDepartment MESVA, University of L'Aquila, 67100, L'Aquila, Italy.
O ViswanathDepartment of Anesthesiology, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA.
I UritsDepartment of Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, Shreveport, LA, USA.
D MyrcikDepartment of Internal Medicine, Silesian University of Medicine, 42-600, Byton, Poland.
J PergolizziNEMA Research Group, Naples, FL, USA.
F BreveNEMA Research Group, Naples, FL, USA.
G VarrassiPaolo Procacci Foundation, 00193, Rome, Italy. giuvarr@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3822-2923
Nema Research (United States) · USCreighton University · USFondazione Roma · ITLouisiana State University in Shreveport · USOrsett Hospital · GBUniversity of L'Aquila · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionAssessment and management of pain in elderly people with cognitive impairment is particularly challenging. Physiological changes due to aging as well as comorbidities and polypharmacy are responsible for a complex clinical approach. Concomitantly, in cognitive impairment, including advanced dementia, changes in the central nervous system along with changes in the peripheral nervous system due to aging have a significant impact on pain perception. Sometimes clinicians decide to prescribe opioids to relieve pain, also without a clear indication. This review aims to investigate the effect of opioids in elderly patients with cognitive impairment.

methodsA literature search of PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane databases was conducted using keyword searches to generate lists of articles that were screened for relevance by title and abstract to give a final list of articles for full-text review. Further articles were identified by scanning the reference lists of the full-text articles. DISCUSSION: This review discusses the complex physiological and pharmacological changes in the elderly as well as the neurological changes that affect pain perception in this population. Additionally, it focuses on cognitive impairment and pain in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, the pain assessment in the elderly with cognitive impairment as well as the safety of opioid use in the elderly. Information regarding opioid prescription in nursing homes and recorded indications for opioid use, type and dosing of opioids, and compliance of treatment in advanced dementia are also provided.

conclusionsOpioid prescription in the elderly population with cognitive impairment is particularly complex. All healthcare professionals involved in the care of such patients need to be aware of the challenges and strive to ensure analgesic use is guided by appropriate and accurate pain assessment.

Indexed as

AgingCognitive impairmentDementiaElderlyOpioidsPain

Identifiers

PMID35380373
PMCPMC9098742
OpenAlexW4226133315

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.