Background: Are older women who experience chronic pain more likely to be depressed than those who do not? Previous studies have shown that chronic pain is associated with depression (Hendler 1984), that depressed patients are more likely to experience pain (Magni et al. 1994), and that chronic pain and depression are mediated by other variables (Rudy et al. 1988, Turk et al. 1995). However, this issue has not been examined in frail elderly women, a rapidly growing segment of the population who are heavy consumers of medical services.
Objectives: To explore the relationship between depression and chronic pain in a sample of frail elderly women, and to test the hypothesis that the relationship between pain and depression is moderated by available social resources.
Design: Population-based, cross-sectional study.
Sample: Eight hundred fifty-four women (854), mean age 80.25(range from 65 to 100), living in the community, enrolled in a multi-site Medicare demonstration project.
Methods: Baseline evaluation of subjects using self-report measures of depression, pain, financial resources and social support. We will report characteristics of the population and the results of descriptive statistics and regression analysis in which depression is the dependent variable and demographic characteristics, pain score, and social resource variables (with interaction terms) are predictors.
Findings: We will discuss the implications of our results for the diagnosis and treatment of depression and pain syndromes in this important population of frail elderly women. Implications for Medicare coverage will also be discussed.
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the depression-chronic pain relationship, based on a thorough literature review. 2. Present the characteristics of the study sample and the implications of the findings for managing these conditions in this population of heavy consumers of medical services.
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.