Pain interference and depressive symptoms in communicative people with Alzheimer's disease: a pilot study

To examine pain interference in verbally communicative older adults with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to examine the association of pain interference with cognitive function and depressive symptoms.

For this pilot study, we used a cross-sectional design to examine pain interference (Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form), cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Exam), and depressive symptoms (15-item Geriatric Depression Scale) in 52 older (≥65) communicative adults with AD who reported being free from chronic pain requiring daily analgesics.

Pain was reported to interfere with general activity (13.5%), mood (13.5%), walking ability (13.5%), normal work (11.5%), enjoyment of life (11.5%), relationships with other people (9.6%), and sleep (9.6%). Pain interference was significantly positively correlated with both cognitive function (r_s = 0.46, p = 0.001) and depressive symptomology (r_s = 0.45, p = 0.001), indicating that greater reported pain interference was associated with better cognitive function and more depressive symptoms.

Among older people with AD who report being free from chronic pain requiring daily analgesics, 2 in 10 are at risk of pain interference and depressive symptoms. Those with better cognitive function reported more pain interference and depressive symptoms, meaning pain is likely to be under-reported as AD progresses. Clinicians should regularly assess pain interference and depressive symptoms in older persons with AD to identify pain that might be otherwise overlooked..