Kaasalainen Sharon
School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
J Gerontol Nurs. 2007 Jun;33(6):6-10. doi: 10.3928/00989134-20070601-03.
Pain assessment in older adults with dementia recently has received considerable attention from both researchers and clinicians as evidenced by a surge of published behavioral observation tools for pain assessment in this vulnerable population. These behavioral observation methods offer a promising strategy to improve pain assessment in older adults who are not able to communicate their pain verbally. However, some concerns exist related to the interpretation and clinical utility of these methods for decision making related to pain management interventions. This article provides an overview of the general state of knowledge on the use of behavioral observation methods in older adults and discusses the use of such methods to guide decision making in clinical settings.
痴呆症老年患者的疼痛评估近来受到了研究人员和临床医生的广泛关注，这体现在针对这一弱势群体的疼痛评估所发表的行为观察工具激增。这些行为观察方法为改善无法通过言语表达疼痛的老年人的疼痛评估提供了一种有前景的策略。然而，对于这些方法在疼痛管理干预决策方面的解释和临床实用性，仍存在一些担忧。本文概述了老年人使用行为观察方法的总体知识状况，并讨论了在临床环境中使用此类方法来指导决策。
