Abstract

ALABA, J.  and  ARRIOLA, E.. Pain prevalence among the elderly in care homes. Rev. Soc. Esp. Dolor [online]. 2009, vol.16, n.6, pp.344-351. ISSN 1134-8046.

Objective: To assess the presence of pain among elderly residents in care homes. Material and method: We performed a descriptive cross sectional study to establish the prevalence and characteristics of pain in residents of a care home without cognitive impairment and in those with dementia using the observational Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) scale. Results: The evaluation was performed in a care home with 187 residents with a mean age of 84 years. Seventy-four percent were women, 40% had high dependency and the prevalence of dementia was 64%. The prevalence of pain was 61%, mainly nociceptive and somatic pain related to osteoarticular disease. Daily pain was experienced by 64% and severe pain by 29%. The most frequently used pain intensity evaluation scale was the numerical pain scale. There was some correlation between the presence of pain and functional capacity and anxiety. Twenty-two percent of patients with dementia scored more than 4 points on the PAINAD scale and a correlation was found between the presence of pain and functional capacity and emotional and behavioral states. A low correlation (r: 0.24) was found between behavior disorders and the presence of pain. Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of pain in elderly residents of care homes, systematic and structured pain detection may be a basic requirement to achieve adequate quality of life and quality of care in this setting.

Keywords : Pain assessment; Elderly; Care homes.

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