Third of dementia patients can’t report pain

HOSPITAL-BOUND dementia patients are “suffering in silence” because they are unable to communicate the pain they are in, according to a study.

Research by Marie Curie and University College London found that over a third of patients with the disease are unable to explain how they are feeling to hospital staff.

The researchers warned that both pain and delirium, a state of acute confusion to which old people are particularly susceptible, are common among dementia patients on hospital wards but that these conditions are “often under-diagnosed and under-treated”.

The team looked at dementia severity, delirium and pain levels among 230 dementia patients aged over 70 admitted to two British hospitals.

They found that almost half (49 per cent) of the patients studied were suffering pain while resting, and delirium developed in 15 per cent.

Of the 35 per cent of participants who were delirious and unable to selfreport pain, 33 per cent experienced pain at rest, according to the study, published in the journal Age And Ageing.

Dr Doug Brown, chief policy and research officer at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “We know that people living with dementia can find it difficult to communicate, and when this concerns inability to communicate pain to hospital staff, it’s clearly extremely concerning, as it’s not only upsetting and frustrating but can have serious consequences on a person’s health.”