Assessment of pain in cognitively impaired older adults: A comparison of pain assessment tools and their use by nonprofessional caregivers

OBJECTIVES: To compare self-reporting of pain by cognitively impaired (CI) older adults living in thr community with reports of their caregivers; to i dentify the factors associated with differences in agreement; and to identi fy those pain assessment tools that are most useful to nonprofessional care givers. DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort of patients with dementia and thei r caregivers. SETTING: In-home assessments of community-dwelling CI older adults and fami ly members, adult foster care providers, or aides in residential care facil ities. All CI subjects were enrolled in a Program for All-inclusive Care of the Elderly program (ElderPlace) in Portland, Oregon. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 156 CI adults and their caregivers. METHODS: Standardized pain assessment instruments were administered to the CI subjects and their caregivers in the subject's home by trained research assistants between June and October 1998. CI subjects were assessed with th e Nonverbal Visual Analog scale ("line"), the Faces Pain Scale ("faces"), a nd the Philadelphia Pain Intensity Scale (PIS). Research assistants observe d pain behaviors in the CI subjects using the Hospice Approach Discomfort S cale. The CI subject's caregivers completed the "line," "faces," PTS, and C ornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. A baseline Mini-Mental State Exam, Functional Assessment Stage Test, and Geriatric Depression Scale were perf ormed on all CT subjects by ElderPlace medical, nursing, or social work sta ff. RESULTS: The mean age of the CI subjects was 83, and 83% were women. The me an Mini-Mental State Exam score was 15.7. One-third of the CI subjects were unable to complete any of the three pain assessment tools. Of the 104 subj ects completing at least one tool, 13 (12.5%) reported no pain and 91 (87.5 %) reported some pain. Sixteen (10%) of the subjects were depressed as meas ured with the GDS or Cornell instrument. In 70 of the 104 subjects (67%) ab le to complete any tool, the caregiver and CI subject agreed as to the leve l of pain experienced by the CI subject. The number of tools completed by t he CI subjects decreased with increased cognitive impairment. The Pain Inte nsity Scale was the tool most likely to be completed by both CI subjects an d caregivers. The means of test scores were not significantly different for the paired groups of CI subject and caregiver, and the nonparametric corre lation of each tool was significant: "faces" (Spearman's rho (rho) =.417); "line" (rho =.420); and PIS (rho =.452). The Hospice Approach Discomfort Sc ale did not correlate well with other tools. The Pain Intensity Scale seems to be more useful than other pain assessment tools in assessing pain in co gnitively impaired patients and can be used by nonprofessional caregivers i n a community-based care setting.