Prévalence de la douleur chez des patients âgés dyscommunicants

The conclusions of an annual survey conducted in a geriatric hospital have demonstrated that the prevalence of pain is a recurrent problem. The intensity of pain and the proportion of patients taking analgesic agents are variable depending on the patient's capacity to communication. Summarizing, the prevalence of moderately intense pain and the rate of analgesic use are lower among communication-disabled patients suffering from dementia or aphasia assessed by observer-evaluation than among communicating patients assessed by self-evaluation. Two hypotheses could explain this neurological dysfunction: either dementia syndromes induce neurological dysfunction, or observer-evaluation underestimates pain. Evidence presented in the literature regarding these two hypotheses is discussed.