Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22487749›Full record

ReviewNature reviews. Neurology2012

Assessment and treatment of pain in people with dementia.

Anne Corbett, Bettina Husebo, Marzia Malcangio, Amelia Staniland, Jiska Cohen-Mansfield, Dag Aarsland, Clive Ballard

Erratum issuedAbstract readReview
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nature reviews. Neurology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 146 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
146citing papers in PubMed, 16 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

146 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. A Systematic Review Evaluating Pain Assessment Strategies for Patients With Dementia in the Emergency Department: The Geriatric ED Guidelines 2.0.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2026
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  8. Experimentally evoked pain in Alzheimer's disease.Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners · 2021
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  10. Guideline
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  18. Pain Incidence, Treatment, and Associated Symptoms in Hospitalized Persons with Dementia.Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses · 2021
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86 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

  • Erratum issued
5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Anne CorbettAlzheimer's Society, 58 St Katharine's Way, London E1W 1LB, UK.
Bettina Husebo
Marzia Malcangio
Amelia Staniland
Jiska Cohen-Mansfield
Dag Aarsland
Clive Ballard

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many elderly people experience pain and regularly take analgesic medication. Pain is also frequent in people with dementia, particularly those with severe disease. As no robust clinical guidelines are available for the treatment of pain in the context of dementia, the risk of inadequate treatment in individuals with this condition is high. Furthermore, our understanding of the aetiology of pain and the potential role of dementia-associated neuropathology in pain is limited. These issues are important in the clinical management of individuals with dementia, as untreated pain is a major contributor to reduced quality of life and disability, and can lead to increased behavioural and psychological symptoms. Assessment scales to identify pain in people with dementia have been highlighted in recent studies, but there is little evidence for consistency between these tools. Numerous studies have evaluated various approaches for the treatment of pain, including stepped-care protocols and/or administration of paracetamol and opioid medications. In this Review, we summarize the best-available evidence regarding the aetiology, assessment and treatment of pain in people with dementia. Further validation of assessment tools and large-scale trials of treatment approaches in people with dementia are needed to improve clinical guidance for the treatment of pain in these individuals.

Indexed as

DementiaPain ManagementHumansPain

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.