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Multicenter Study
. 2012 Feb;153(2):305-310.
doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2011.10.007. Epub 2011 Nov 16.

Association of pain with behavioral and psychiatric symptoms among nursing home residents with cognitive impairment: results from the SHELTER study

Matteo Tosato  1 , Albert Lukas, Henriette G van der Roest, Paola Danese, Manuela Antocicco, Harriet Finne-Soveri, Thorsten Nikolaus, Francesco Landi, Roberto Bernabei, Graziano Onder
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Association of pain with behavioral and psychiatric symptoms among nursing home residents with cognitive impairment: results from the SHELTER study

Matteo Tosato et al. Pain. 2012 Feb.

Abstract

The etiology of behavioral and psychiatric symptoms is generally considered to be multifactorial, and these symptoms often indicate a need for care or assistance, which may include the presence of uncontrolled pain. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the association of pain with behavioral and psychiatric symptoms in a population of nursing home (NH) residents with cognitive impairment in Europe. Data are from the SHELTER project, which contains information on NH residents in 8 countries. Pain was defined as any type of physical pain or discomfort in any part of the body in the 3 days before the assessment. The mean age of 2822 cognitively impaired residents entering the study was 84.1 (standard deviation 9.1)years, and 2110 (74.8%) were women. Of the total sample, 538 residents (19.1%) presented with pain. After adjusting for potential confounders, pain was significantly and positively associated with socially inappropriate behavior (odds ratio [OR] 1.37; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04-1.80), resistance to care (OR 1.41; 95% CI 1.08-1.83), abnormal thought process (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.16-1.90), and delusions (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.07-2.03). A borderline inverse association was observed with wandering (OR 0.74; 95% CI 0.55-1.00). In conclusion, this cross-sectional study provides evidence from a large sample of frail elderly showing an association between pain and behavioral and psychiatric symptoms. Treatment models that put together assessment and treatment of pain and evaluate their effect on behavioral and psychiatric symptoms are needed.

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