Osteoarthritic knee or hip pain: possible indicators in elderly adults with cognitive impairment.
Many elderly individuals with cognitive impairment (CI) suffer from chronic pain resulting from osteoarthritis (OA). They have diminished ability to communicate their pain to health care providers, and when pain is undetected, it may be untreated. A method of detecting chronic OA pain in elderly individuals with Cl and measuring treatment outcomes is thus urgently needed. This article examines indicators of chronic OA pain in cognitively intact elderly individuals that could be used to identify pain in elderly individuals with Cl. The review suggests that patients with severe knee or hip OA pain tend to show specific motor patterns, disturbances of gait patterns, and reduction of activity level. Therefore, these behaviors could serve as alternatives to verbal report of chronic pain in elderly individuals with Cl and knee or hip OA.
Tsai
Pao-Feng
PF
College of Nursing , University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock 72205, USA.
Means
Kevin M
KM
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015982:Bias; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D003144:Communication Barriers; D005684:Gait; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009048:Motor Skills; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D015207:Osteoarthritis, Hip / Q000150:complications*; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000150:complications*; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing; D019727:Proxy / Q000523:psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index