VIDEO: What to prescribe for older patients with chronic pain

SAN DIEGO — Physical activity is among the safest treatments for chronic pain in older patients, according to Erin E. Krebs, MD, MPH, FACP, a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota.

During her presentation at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting, Krebs highlighted ACP’s guidance for chronic back pain, “which is the most common cause of pain in older adults.”

“That guideline really recommends non-drug therapies as the first-line approaches for patients with chronic back pain,” Krebs said. “Something that is always safe to prescribe is physical activity or exercise therapy. Those things are just foundational to management of chronic pain.”

Krebs explained that physicians should also heavily consider the risks and benefits of medications and reassess how treatments are affecting patients.

“Many of the safety issues that we get into with people, especially older adults with chronic pain, are because we start medications,” she said. “We do not confirm that they are providing a lot of benefit. We continue them and patients end up just being on a lot of medications that aren’t helping much.”

Reference:

• Krebs E, et al. My older patient is in pain: What is safe to prescribe? Presented at: ACP Internal Medicine Meeting; April 27-29, 2023; San Diego.