A Descriptive Study of Treatment of Pain in Acute Care for Patients Living With Dementia.
Barbara Resnick, Marie Boltz, Elizabeth Galik and 5 others
PMID 36737349WHAT IT FOUND
Most patients with dementia received some pain treatment, yet pain scores barely changed by discharge.
Comfort measures and acetaminophen were common, but distraction and socialization were rarely used. Nurses should monitor for untreated pain, as 5% of those in pain received no intervention.
Key findings
0142% of participants were observed to have pain, and only 6% received no pharmacological or nonpharmacological interventions.
02Pain scores decreased slightly from admission to discharge, but this change was not statistically significant.
03Acetaminophen was the most frequent medication, and comfort measures were the most common nonpharmacological approach.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was descriptive, so it cannot prove that the treatments caused any change in pain. Pain was only measured at admission and discharge, missing fluctuations during the stay. Data on specific dosages and the duration of nonpharmacological interventions were not collected. The sample size was too small to test the effectiveness of individual treatment approaches. Low baseline pain scores meant there was little room for improvement, potentially masking treatment effects.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the slight decrease in pain scores as evidence that the treatments were effective. The change was not statistically significant, and the study was descriptive, meaning it cannot determine if the interventions caused the pain to improve or if pain resolved naturally as the underlying medical condition was treated.