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Comparison of the cognitive performance of elderly caregivers with and without chronic pain* * Extracted from the dissertation "Associação entre chronic pain e cognição em idosos cuidadores", Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Departamento de Enfermagem, 2015.

Comparación del desempeño cognitivo de ancianos cuidadores con y sin dolor crónico

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

Understanding and characterizing chronic pain in elderly caregivers, verifying the cognitive performance of the elderly of the sample and verifying whether there is difference in the cognitive performance of elderly caregivers with and without chronic pain.

METHOD

Participants were people aged 60 years or older who lived with another elderly person in the same household and who were registered in Family Health Units. Data collection took place at participants' homes. Pain was assessed by the EMADOR and cognition was assessed by ACE-R. Statistical analyzes were performed using Shapiro-Wilk's and Mann-Whitney U tests.

RESULTS

The study included 187 elderly caregivers with chronic pain and 133 without chronic pain, with a higher frequency of women. Chronic pain was present in 58.4% of the participants. Regarding the sociodemographic variables, there was no difference between the groups except for the gender variable (p=0.025). No difference was found in cognitive performance among the elderly with chronic pain and those without chronic pain for any domain of the ACE-R instrument.

CONCLUSION

The results contradicted the initial hypothesis that there would be a difference between the groups; however, there is a gap in the scientific knowledge on chronic pain and cognition, especially in elderly caregivers, opening perspectives for future investigations.

DESCRIPTORS
Aged; Caregivers; Chronic Pain; Cognition; Geriatric Nursing

Universidade de São Paulo, Escola de Enfermagem Av. Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 419 , 05403-000 São Paulo - SP/ Brasil, Tel./Fax: (55 11) 3061-7553, - São Paulo - SP - Brazil
E-mail: reeusp@usp.br