• Marcia Y Shade, Keela Herr, and Kevin Kupzyk.
• University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing, Omaha, Nebraska; University of Iowa College of Nursing, Iowa City, Iowa. Electronic address: marcia.shade@umc.edu.
• Pain Manag Nurs. 2019 Jun 1; 20 (3): 232-238.

BackgroundPain impacts the lives of millions of community-dwelling older adults. An important characteristic of pain is "pain interference" which describes the influence of pain on function. A description of pain interference is limited in rural settings where the number of older adults is expected to increase, and health disparities exist.AimsThe purpose of this study was to describe pain interference and analgesic medication use, highlighting those that may be potentially inappropriate in a sample of rural community-dwelling older adults.DesignThis secondary analysis was from a cross sectional study.Sample And SettingsData were analyzed from a sample of 138 rural community-dwelling older adults.MethodsStatistical analyses were performed on demographics, health characteristics, pain interference, and potentially inappropriate analgesic medication data.ResultsPain interference with work activity was reported by 76% of older adults overall, with 23% reporting moderate and 4% extreme interference, and 41% reported sleep difficulty due to pain. Higher pain interference was significantly associated with higher body mass index, more health providers, and the daily use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Older women experienced more sleep difficulties due to pain. Over-the-counter analgesics were used most frequently by rural older adults to manage pain. Of most risk was the daily use of NSAIDs, in which only 30% used medications to protect the gastrointestinal system.ConclusionsOlder adults in rural settings experience pain interference and participate in independent-medicating behaviors that may impact safety.Copyright © 2019 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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