Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia - Pain Resource Center

presence of pain.Scoring of the breathing indicator seems unrelated to pain severity.Breathing does not seem to be a key indicator of pain. However, the tooldevelopers argue that one of the known areas believed to cause negativefeelings for persons with dementia is the aversive symptoms associated withintercurrent respiratory infections and that pneumonia is a the proximal causeof death for many demented persons. Thus, they included the breathing item.We perceive consolablity as a response to an intervention, not a behavioralmanifestation of pain. However, the relationship between consolability andpain may be an area for future research in this population.The validity for the scoring of items according to pain severity or separationof behaviors within each major category is not established, (eg. Breathing isscored: Normal=0, Occasional labored breathing/Short period ofhyperventilation =1, Noisy labored breathing/Long period ofhyperventilation/Cheyne-Stokes respirations=2). However the tool appears toidentify higher and lower levels of pain in an individual.Although the PAINAD does not adequately sample the content area ofbehavioral indicators for pain in elders with dementia who are unable tocommunicate, studies have demonstrated that the tool measures pain. It maynot detect pain in patients that demonstrate pain with behaviors other thanthose included in the tool.SubjectsPanel rating: 1Revised: 3Subjects Study 1 (Warden et al., 2003)Long term care VA Dementia Special Care Unit (96 patient unit).Subjects: 19 veterans, all CaucasianAverage age: 78.1 years (±5), Range 66-85 yearsGender: Female: 0, Male: 100%The subjects had dementia for 8.7 years on average (±4.7), Range 1-20.Length of time in residence: 16.5 months average (±13.5), Range 1-50months.MMSE: 2.8 ±4.5, Range 0-16.Bedford Alzheimer Nursing Severity Subscale: average 16.4 ±4.4, Range 9-23.Study 2 Lane et al., 2003)QI study – charts of 25 patients were used.No demographic data or disease characteristics are available for thesesubjects.Study 3 (Costardi et al., 2006)Geriatric Evaluation and Rehabilitation Unit, Northern Italy (n=1)Subjects: 20 with chronic pain and dementiaAverage age: 82 (SD=5.9) years; Range: 73-93 yearsGender: Female 80% Male: 20%MMSE: 16.4 + 3.8, range 10-22Study 4 (Hutchison et al., 2006)Acute care hospital, US (n=1)Subjects: 53 control and 27 PAINAD with acute postop painReviewed 04/04Revised 06/082