社區老人慢性疼痛問題之處置

The Management of Chronic Pain for Community Elderly

人口老化已是全球的趨勢，老人議題亦受到重視；疼痛對社區老人而言是一個普遍但常被忽視的問題。老年人之疼痛常因某些因素（如缺失正確的疼痛認知、誤認為痛是老化的現象、處理的效果有限、需長期的投入關注或金錢而導致缺乏耐性等）而未得到應有的重視與適當的處理。本文內容由社區老人慢性疼痛的盛行率、原因、影響、處理疼痛策略障礙介紹至對專業人員的建議，期未來能結合學術、實務、研究各界努力，透過跨科際與整合性的治療模式解決或降低老人之疼痛，提升老人生活品質，使其擁有更健康樍極的老年生活。

Global ageing is a trend in the 21st century. Ageing issues are becoming increasingly important nowadays. Among the many health problems of the elderly, chronic pain is a common but often ignored problem. The elderly with chronic pain do not obtain appropriate management because of lack of knowledge regarding chronic pain, misunderstanding pain as a normal ageing process, limited effectiveness of pain management, and lack of patience due to the need for long-term care and economic cost. The purpose of this article is to introduce the prevalence rate, causes, effects, barrier to and strategies for managing chronic pain in community elderly. The authors hope that this paper can provide directions for pain management to health professionals. Through multidisciplinary and integrated work in education, practice and research, more attention will be paid to chronic pain in the elderly to help them manage their pain, improve their quality of life and builde an active life in old age.