Pain assessment in individuals with dementia and communication problems in Spain. A systematic review

Pain assessment in individuals with advanced dementia and communication problems continue to be underdiagnosed and undertreated due to the difficulty in performing this assessment. This review explores and synthesises how pain in individuals with advanced dementia and communication problems are being assessed in the context of Spanish healthcare.

A systematic review of the literature was conducted following the PRISMA criteria. We reviewed the databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Cinahl, Scopus, Dialnet and Cuitatge up to December 2017. Four independent reviewers identified studies that included instruments to assess pain in individuals with dementia and communication problems in the Spanish healthcare context. We performed a narrative synthesis of the included articles.

After applying the inclusion criteria, 10 studies were included. Of these, 4 were methodological studies validating Spanish versions of scales (Abbey, Algoplus, Doloplus and PAINAD-Sp), and 1 was on the development of the original EDAD scale. We also identified 3 studies conducted in Spain that used a translation of the PAINAD, 1 study that used a Spanish translation of Doloplus2 and 1 publication that included the use in Spain of a scale not validated for this patient profile (Pain-VAS).

There are currently several instruments validated in Spanish to assess pain in individuals with advanced dementia and communication problems (Abbey, Algoplus, Doloplus y PAINAD-Sp). However, these instruments have still not been widely used in research, and their psychometric properties could be improved.