(Reuters Health)—Seniors who get behind the wheel soon after starting to use narcotic pain relievers have twice the risk of getting into a serious car crash as their peers who use non-opioid painkillers, Swedish researchers say. Senior drivers who’d been using opioid painkillers regularly for several months also had higher odds of getting into accidents,…
Most Seniors Won’t Abuse Opioids After Surgery
(Reuters Health)—Seniors who receive prescriptions for opioid drugs to control pain after major surgery don’t usually end up addicted to them, research from Canada shows. One year after having major surgery, less than 1% of patients over age 66 were still taking opioids, according to a report in JAMA Surgery. Recent research has suggested the…
Underprescribing Adds to Mortality, Hospitalization for Oldest Patients
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Inappropriate underprescribing of medications is associated with increased mortality and hospitalization rates among community-dwelling adults aged 80 years and older, researchers from Belgium report. “Patients with five or more medications (a standard cut-off used for polypharmacy) can have a well-tailored and balanced medication therapy with an acceptable risk for adverse events,” Dr….
2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting: Better Pain Prevention, Treatment Needed for Older Adults
SAN FRANCISCO—A broadening of the medical community’s horizons in how pain is regarded and treated in older adults, including those with osteoarthritis and other rheumatic diseases, is sorely needed, a researcher said at the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Incidence Studies show that a large percentage of older adults each year see physicians for such issues…