Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 7, 2026

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Sources of Discomfort in Persons with Dementia: Scale and Initial Results
Jiska Cohen-Mansfield1, Khin Thein2, Marcia S Marx2
1Minerva Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of End of Life, Tel-Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel ; Department of Health Promotion, Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Herczeg Institute on Aging, Tel-Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel ; Innovative Aging Research, 807 Horton Drive, Silver Spring, MD 20902, USA.
Abstract:
The Sources of Discomfort Scale (SODS) assesses discomfort manifestations based on source of discomfort, thus making it both distinct from and complementary to pain assessments for persons with dementia. Sources were categorized as pertaining to physical discomfort, to body position, and to environmental sources. Body position sources of discomfort were related to poor functional status and to pain. The SODS scores were not related to cognitive functioning, and sources of discomfort other than those pertaining to body position were not correlated with pain. This paper demonstrates a direct and enhanced method to detect the manifestations of discomfort separately from pain indicators in a population with advanced dementia. The determination of the source of discomfort has direct implications for intervention.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Dementia
The progression of dementia is generally gradual....
Self-Discrepancy and Its Effects
Self-Discrepancy Theory
Assessment of the Gastrointestinal System I: Subjective Data
Health History
The initial step in assessing the GI system is obtaining a comprehensive health history. This includes inquiring about the patient's history or presence of problems...
Formulating and Validating Nursing Diagnosis II
Risk nursing diagnoses represent clinical judgments of an individual, family, or community more vulnerable to developing the health problem than others...
Negative and Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Negative Symptoms
Negative symptoms of schizophrenia manifest as deficits in normal emotional and behavioral functioning, profoundly impacting daily life. Individuals with schizophrenia often display a flat affect, characterized by a near-total absence of emotional expression,...

