Premium
Pain Assessment in Nonverbal Older Adults with Advanced Dementia
Author(s) -
Smith Marianne
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
perspectives in psychiatric care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 35
eISSN - 1744-6163
pISSN - 0031-5990
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-6163.2005.00021.x
Subject(s) - dementia , observational study , nonverbal communication , pain assessment , psychology , observational methods in psychology , medline , clinical psychology , medicine , physical therapy , disease , pain management , developmental psychology , pathology , political science , law
TOPIC: Pain assessment is a particular challenge among individuals with advanced dementia who lack the ability to formulate and express their experience of discomfort.PURPOSE: Awareness of pain scales and methods specifically designed for use with nonverbal individuals with dementia is critical to expanded use and testing in clinical settings.SOURCES: Computerized literature searches using four databases revealed the five observational scales and two caregiver reports methods reviewed.CONCLUSIONS: A small number of valid, reliable, and sensitive scales are available for use by nurses and allied health personnel. Each has strengths and limitations and all would benefit from additional testing.