Factors Associated With Function-Focused Care Among Hospitalized Older Adults Living With Dementia.
Barbara Resnick, Marie Boltz, Elizabeth Galik and 7 others
PMID 37226921WHAT IT FOUND
Hospitalized older adults with dementia who performed more daily activities and had less delirium reported less pain.
Positive staff interactions also correlated with lower pain scores. These associations were cross-sectional, so causation is not proven, but they highlight functional engagement as a key factor.
Key findings
01Higher participation in functional activities and lower delirium severity were significantly associated with less pain.
02Quality of care interactions was the third strongest factor, with positive interactions associated with lower pain scores.
03Pain treatment (pharmacologic or nonpharmacologic) was not significantly associated with pain levels in the model.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPsWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that function, delirium, or care quality caused changes in pain. Data on the actual administration of as-needed pain medications was not collected, so it is unclear if prescribed treatments were delivered. Pain was assessed at only one point in time, which may not reflect fluctuations during the hospital stay. The sample size was relatively small (112 patients) and drawn from only six hospitals in two states.
Declared interests
The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the lack of association between pain treatment and pain scores as evidence that analgesics are ineffective. The study did not track whether as-needed medications were actually administered, and 94% of patients received some form of intervention, which may have limited the statistical variance needed to detect an effect.