Department of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, 60-781 Poznan, Poland.
Department of Public Health and Health Care, West Kazakhstan Marat Ospanov State Medical University, Aktobe 030019, Kazakhstan.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2019 Apr 26;55(5):116. doi: 10.3390/medicina55050116.
The number of studies related to medical students' attitude toward pain is limited. The aim of our study was, thus, to assess the medical students' knowledge of pain assessment and treatment in advanced stages of dementia in order to improve the existing curriculum in this area. : We analyzed the medical students' knowledge about pain in advanced dementia based on a short questionnaire. The research was anonymous. The questionnaire was completed by 147 students. : The students most often suggested that pain in patients with advanced dementia could be manifested via body language and facial expression (107 students-72.8% and 100 students-68.0%, respectively). Vocalization was the third most frequently reported pain manifestation (84-57.1%). Other groups of pain symptoms (changes in activity patterns, changes in interpersonal interactions, and mental status changes) were indicated less often ( < 0.0001). Only five students (3.4%) listed the DOLOPLUS behavioral pain scale as an assessment tool for patients with advanced dementia, and 16 (10.9%) indicated observational scale elements or a necessity to observe the patient. Still, 110 students (74.5%) correctly characterized pain treatment in patients with advanced dementia. : To the best of our knowledge, our study is pioneering in defining the deficits of medical students' knowledge on pain assessment and treatment in patients with advanced dementia. We highlighted knowledge gaps in the area of pain assessment which might make medical students incapable of proper pain treatment. Following the International Association for the Study of Pain considerations regarding the need for excellence in pain education, these results can contribute to the improvement of existing medical curricula in Poznan University of Medical Sciences to include pain management in dementia in a more "patient-centered" way in order to increase future staff's competency and to assure a better quality of care.
目前关于医学生对疼痛态度的研究数量有限。因此，我们的研究旨在评估医学生对痴呆晚期患者疼痛评估和治疗的知识，以改进该领域的现有课程。我们基于一个简短的问卷分析了医学生对晚期痴呆患者疼痛的知识。该研究是匿名进行的。问卷由 147 名学生完成。学生们最常认为晚期痴呆患者的疼痛可以通过身体语言和面部表情来表现（分别有 107 名学生，72.8%和 100 名学生，68.0%）。其次是发声，这是第三种最常报告的疼痛表现（84-57.1%）。其他疼痛症状群（活动模式变化、人际互动变化和精神状态变化）的发生率较低（<0.0001）。只有 5 名学生（3.4%）将 DOLOPLUS 行为疼痛量表列为评估晚期痴呆患者的工具，16 名学生（10.9%）表示观察量表元素或需要观察患者。然而，仍有 110 名学生（74.5%）正确描述了晚期痴呆患者的疼痛治疗。据我们所知，我们的研究在确定医学生对晚期痴呆患者疼痛评估和治疗知识的不足方面是开创性的。我们强调了疼痛评估领域的知识差距，这可能使医学生无法进行适当的疼痛治疗。根据国际疼痛研究协会对卓越疼痛教育需求的考虑，这些结果有助于改进波兹南医科大学现有的医学课程，以更“以患者为中心”的方式纳入痴呆症中的疼痛管理，从而提高未来工作人员的能力，并确保提供更好的护理质量。
