Did staff recognize older adults’ pain as the older adults reported it?

Details

The study investigated the presence, duration, location, intensity and type of pain, and its pharmacological treatment, among older adults living in sheltered accommodation or receiving rehabilitation. It also examined agreement between pain assessments by the older adults and the staff caring for them.

Twenty-nine randomly selected adults aged 65 or older and the staff who cared for them took part in a structured interview based on standardized measures for pain assessment and physical, intellectual and communicative functions.

Pain was common: a majority of participants experienced it every day or all of the time. Nine of the 22 older adults in pain had no pain relief medication at all. Agreement between the older adults’ and staff’s assessments was no higher than moderate, and pain levels were generally underestimated.

The findings indicated a risk of pain going undetected and untreated, especially among older adults with speech difficulties. The researchers concluded that good nursing care in sheltered accommodation requires systematic routines for frequent pain assessments.