Recent developments in pain in dementia -- Scherder et al.
BMJHow to assess and treat pain when dementia causes problems with perception and communication of pain.
"Epidemiological studies show that, worldwide, the number of people aged over 65 will increase substantially in the next decades and that a considerable proportion of this population will develop dementia.1 Ample evidence shows that ageing is associated with a high rate of painful conditions, irrespective of cognitive status.2 The number of patients with dementia who will experience painful conditions is therefore likely to increase. A key question relates to whether and how patients with dementia perceive pain. Patients with dementia may express their pain in ways that are quite different from those of elderly people without dementia.3 Particularly in the more severe stages of dementia, therefore, the complexity and consequent (frequent) inadequacy of pain assessment leads to the undertreatment of pain."
posted by Jen @ 12:44 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home