Assessing chronic pain in cognitively impaired elderly adults.

Too often, assessment of pain in the cognitively impaired population is not conducted as well as it could be. Pain assessment in impaired elderly patients is a complicated clinical challenge. Notwithstanding, the prevalence of pain among elderly patients is often high and often carries the risk of serious complications and decreased quality of life. The authors identify selected behaviors that demonstrate the presence of pain in cognitively impaired persons. Nurses must be aware of these behavioral indicators and their value in assessing for and treating pain in this special population.