Pain treatment and impact of cognitive impairment on pharmacotherapy of pain in residential homes for seniors - results of the czech part of the DEMDATA Study
Abstract
The aim of the study was to explore various aspects of the quality of residential long-term care for seniors provided by homes with a special régime and homes for seniors, in which people generally live with complex health problems. This article focuses on pain treatment, and tries to answer the question whether and how pain is being treated and whether there are differences in the treatment of pain among people with dementia and without dementia.
Design: cross-sectional study. Participants and facilities: 367 inhabitants living in 14 randomly selected facilities (homes for seniors and homes with special regime) in the Czech Republic.
Data were collected in the Czech - Austrian study DEMDATA. Data about medication were obtained from medical records and subsequently compared with the stage of progression of dementia as determined by the Reisberg Global Deterioration Scale (GDS).
Results: People with significant cognitive impairment according to the GDS receive less analgesics. A total of 62.1% of the residents who reported pain were not receiving any analgesic treatment.
The state is often not recorded in the health care documentation. Conclusions: The results of the study have highlighted the insufficiently treated or completely untreated pain in a large proportion of residents of homes for seniors and homes with special regime, and significantly lower prescribing of analgesics to people with cognitive impairment.