Table 4.
Pain medication by cognitive status
| Measure | Cognitive Impairment | P-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mild (n = 14) Mean (SD) |
Moderate (n = 21) Mean (SD) |
Severe (n = 20) Mean (SD) |
||
| Received some opioid, n (%) | 10 (71.4) | 16 (76.2) | 7 (35.0) | 0.016 |
| a Median (Min, Max) (n = 10) | a Median (Min, Max) (n = 16) | a Median (Min, Max) (n = 7) | ||
| Total opioid (EDU) | 14.2 (2.9, 81.9) | 10.8 (0.2, 45.4) | 12.8 (0.1, 21.0) | 0.418 |
| Received some non-narcotic, n (%) | 5 (35.7) | 7 (33.3) | 6 (30.0) | 0.938 |
| a Median (Min, Max) (n = 5) | a Median (Min, Max) (n = 7) | a Median (Min, Max) (n = 6) | ||
| Total doses of non-narcotic | 1.0 (1, 2) | 14.0 (1, 40) | 6.5 (1, 56) | 0.097 |
a
IQR: 25th and 75th interquartile range representing the middle 50% of the values. Medication variables collected over the final 2 weeks of life. Cognitive status determined during the last 90 days of life. We assumed that dementia severity would either remain the same or likely worsen until death. EDU, equivalent dose unit.