Abstract
Chronic pain is pervasive among Americans. This study aims to understand how pain management experiences differ between younger and older adults. Online cross-sectional surveys (Nov 2017-Dec 2018) were collected from adults in the United States (U.S.) about their pain management experiences using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Data were collected from an online convenience sample of 202 adults (age 18 years and older) who were U.S. residents and had internet access. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine age differences in pain management experiences (i.e., referral to a pain specialist, receiving pain treatment information, being allowed to participate in decision-making). The multivariable logistic regression analyses excluded a participant who reported hardly ever experiencing pain over the past six months. Older adults were less likely to receive information about their pain treatment options (aOR = 0.40, 95% CI = [0.19, 0.82]). Still, they were more likely to perceive that they were sufficiently allowed to participate in their pain treatment decisions (aOR = 2.06, 95% CI = [1.07, 3.94]). No statistically significant differences were observed regarding pain specialist referrals or addiction concerns. Findings suggest differences in pain management experiences between younger and older adults. Further efforts are needed to examine the impact of differential patient involvement in pain treatment based on age. The study provides evidence of differential pain management experiences based on patients' age and offers potential explanations for these findings, along with implications for future research that can guide change in clinical practice.
Author ORCID Identifier
Lee: 0000-0003-1336-819X
Smith: 0000-0002-8232-9285
Vollmer Dahlke: 0000-0003-1674-4998
Pardo: 0000-0001-9884-8840
Ory: 0000-0001-8036-2383
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Lee, Shinduk; Smith, Matthew L.; Dahlke, Deborah V.; Pardo, Nicole; and Ory, Marcia G. (2026) "Chronic Pain and Pain Management Experiences among Younger and Older Adults," Health Behavior Research: Vol. 9: No. 1.
