Pain in persons with dementia and the direct and indirect impacts on caregiver burden.
Natalie G Regier, Janiece L Taylor, Sarah L Szanton and 6 others
PMID 33571930WHAT IT FOUND
Pain in people with dementia was not directly linked to caregiver burden in 272 caregiver reports.
It was linked through caregiver upset about behavioral symptoms.
Key findings
01In the model, pain did not have a significant direct path to caregiver burden (b = 0.23, p = 0.098).
02Caregiver upset with neuropsychiatric symptoms fully mediated the relationship between pain and caregiver burden (indirect path b = 0.24, p = .001).
03In simple correlations, pain was associated with caregiver burden (r = .179, p < .01) and with more neuropsychiatric symptoms (r = .228, p < .001).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Pain and neuropsychiatric symptoms were reported by caregivers, not collected directly from the person with dementia. The analysis was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that pain caused upset, that upset caused burden, or that treating pain would reduce burden. The model did not include comorbidities, type of dementia, or source and type of pain. The sample came from a trial of Philadelphia-area residents, so it may not apply to other dementia populations. The original trial tested a home-based non-drug intervention, but this paper did not test whether any treatment changed pain, upset, or burden.
Declared interests
The article is listed as receiving NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support. No author conflict-of-interest statement is provided in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating pain will reduce caregiver burden. The study was cross-sectional, found no significant direct path from pain to burden, and relied on caregiver reports, so it cannot show causation or treatment effect.