ReviewNature reviews. Neurology2012
Assessment and treatment of pain in people with dementia.
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.
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.
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.
Who cites it
146 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic review of prevalence of pain among people with dementia living in the community.BMC neurology · 2026Pooled it
- 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 · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Association between pain and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in older adults with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of prevalence of pain in nursing home residents with dementia.BMC geriatrics · 2023Pooled it
- Psychometric properties of pain measurements for people living with dementia: a COSMIN systematic review.European geriatric medicine · 2022Pooled it
- The acceptability and effectiveness of eHealth interventions to support assessment and decision-making for people with dementia living in care homes: A systematic review.Frontiers in dementia · 2022Pooled it
- Experimentally evoked pain in Alzheimer's disease.Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners · 2021Pooled it
- Palliative care for people with dementia living at home: A systematic review of interventions.Palliative medicine · 2019Pooled it
- Deprescribing antipsychotics for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and insomnia: Evidence-based clinical practice guideline.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2018Guideline
- Measurement properties, feasibility and clinical utility of the Doloplus-2 pain scale in older adults with cognitive impairment: a systematic review.BMC geriatrics · 2017Pooled it
- The Liverpool Care Pathway: discarded in cancer patients but good enough for dying nursing home patients? A systematic review.BMC medical ethics · 2017Pooled it
- Identifying and Managing Pain in People with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Types of Dementia: A Systematic Review.CNS drugs · 2016Pooled it
- Association between pain, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and physical function in dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC geriatrics · 2015Pooled it
- Pain assessment for people with dementia: a systematic review of systematic reviews of pain assessment tools.BMC geriatrics · 2014Pooled it
- Pain-Reducing Effects of Physical Therapist-Delivered Interventions: A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials Among Older Adults With Dementia.Journal of geriatric physical therapy (2001)Pooled it
- Essential oil therapy for the short-term treatment of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: a monocentric randomized pilot study.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2021Trial
- Pain Incidence, Treatment, and Associated Symptoms in Hospitalized Persons with Dementia.Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses · 2021Trial
- Pain Management Algorithms for Implementing Best Practices in Nursing Homes: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2016Trial
- The Interactive Relationship between Pain, Psychosis, and Agitation in People with Dementia: Results from a Cluster-Randomised Clinical Trial.Behavioural neurology · 2016Trial
86 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
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
Identifiers
22487749What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.