Study: Pain Frequently Under-Detected, Poorly Managed in Dementia Residents

A new study in the journal BMC Geriatrics found that pain in people with dementia is under-detected and poorly managed in both acute in long-term care.

The researchers determined that this could be related to limited evidence showing the reliability, validity and clinical utility of pain assessment tools for use with the elderly.

While self-reporting is considered to be the gold standard for reporting pain, this option is frequently not feasible for residents with later-stage dementia.

The researchers examined 28 pain assessment tools that could possibly help with this issue, but ultimately determined they could not specifically recommend any of them due to a lack of comprehensive evidence on their reliability, validity, feasibility or clinical utility.

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