A mixed-methods study on the pharmacological management of pain in Australian and Japanese nursing homes
Files
(Published version)
Date
2024
Authors
Dowd, L.A.
Hamada, S.
Hattori, Y.
Veal, F.C.
Taguchi, R.
Sakata, N.
Jadczak, A.D.
Visvanathan, R.
Koujiya, E.
Rajan, M.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Age and Ageing, 2024; 53(2):afae024-1-afae024-13
Statement of Responsibility
Laura A. Dowd, Shota Hamada, Yukari Hattori, Felicity C. Veal, Reina Taguchi, Nobuo Sakata, Agathe D. Jadczak, Renuka Visvanathan, Eriko Koujiya, Madhu Rajan, Stefan Doube, Ai Suzuki, Maree Bernoth, Helen Rawson, Hiroshi Maruoka, Amelia Wood, Jo Wagner, Dee-Anne Hull, Mizuki Katsuhisa, Justin Turner, Shin J. Liau, Emily Reeve, J. Simon Bell, Amanda J. Cross
Conference Name
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Understanding how analgesics are used in different countries can inform initiatives to improve the pharmacological management of pain in nursing homes. AIMS: To compare patterns of analgesic use among Australian and Japanese nursing home residents; and explore Australian and Japanese healthcare professionals' perspectives on analgesic use. METHODS: Part one involved a cross-sectional comparison among residents from 12 nursing homes in South Australia (N = 550) in 2019 and four nursing homes in Tokyo (N = 333) in 2020. Part two involved three focus groups with Australian and Japanese healthcare professionals (N = 16) in 2023. Qualitative data were deductively content analysed using the World Health Organization six-step Guide to Good Prescribing. RESULTS: Australian and Japanese residents were similar in age (median: 89 vs 87) and sex (female: 73% vs 73%). Overall, 74% of Australian and 11% of Japanese residents used regular oral acetaminophen, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or opioids. Australian and Japanese healthcare professionals described individualising pain management and the first-line use of acetaminophen. Australian participants described their therapeutic goal was to alleviate pain and reported analgesics were often prescribed on a regular basis. Japanese participants described their therapeutic goal was to minimise impacts of pain on daily activities and reported analgesics were often prescribed for short-term durations, corresponding to episodes of pain. Japanese participants described regulations that limit opioid use for non-cancer pain in nursing homes. CONCLUSION: Analgesic use is more prevalent in Australian than Japanese nursing homes. Differences in therapeutic goals, culture, analgesic regulations and treatment durations may contribute to this apparent difference.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Data source: Supplementary data, https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afae024
Access Status
Rights
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.