A recent study published in the Pain Management Nursing journal evaluated the performance of self-reported pain, nurse-reported pain, and observational pain tools among older patients with cognitive impairment using a prospective observational design. The authors conducted the study within an acute geriatric ward located in a teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The study found that “the use of an observational pain scale could help in clinical assessment when cognitive impairment is present and the older individual is unable to self-report pain.” In addition, the authors found that the use of different pain assessment methods in patients with advanced dementia should be considered.
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