Abstract
Background: Chronic pain is a common condition in elderly people with diabetes, affecting the patient's quality of life and adherence to treatment. Objective: To describe the characteristics of chronic pain in elderly type 2 diabetes patients. Methodology: A cross-sectional study on 275 patients aged ≥ 60 years were diagnosed with diabetes according to the ADA 2018, treatment at Outpatient Department, National Geriatric Hospital. Patients were interviewed according to a questionnaire assessing chronic pain, neuropathic pain (ID-PAIN questionnaire), pain location, pain nature, pain level (Visual Analog Scale), diabetic peripheral neuropathy (MNSI). Results: Mean age was 70.2 ± 7.2 years. The rate of patients with peripheral neuropathy was 64%. Prevalence of chronic pain was 67,6%. The rate of neuropathic pain was 82.8%. The most common pain site is the knee, shin - foot accounted for 93.5%. Moderate pain accounted for the highest rate with 59.7%. The mean VAS score was 3.6 ± 1.8. The proportion of patients who did not use drugs or pain treatments was 86.0%. Conclusion: Chronic pain, especially pain of neurogenic causes, is a common condition in elderly diabetic patients but has not yet received adequate treatment