Dementia patients ‘suffering in silence’

VULNERABLE PATIENTS with dementia could be suffering in silence because they are unable to tell hospital staff how much pain they are in, new research suggests.

People could be missing out on the help the need because pain and delirium, a traumatic state of confusion which affects poorly older people, are being under-diagnosed, experts said. The study by the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department at University College London has led to calls for improved staff training to help spot the signs of elderly people in distress.

The research, funded by Alzheimer’s Society and Bupa Foundation, looked at the links between delirium and pain.

Dr Doug Brown, Chief policy and Research officer at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Dementia is a devastating condition, with someone in the UK developing it every three minutes.

“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.”

“We now need to take steps to ensure that all healthcare professionals have the right training to identify such distress in order to properly care for people with dementia.”

Around 40 per cent of people admitted to acute hospital wards have dementia, latest figures show. The research, in the journal

Age and Ageing, studied 230 dementia patients aged 70 and over admitted to two British hospitals.

The study found that more than a third of dementia patients with delirium were unable to communicate how they were feeling. Almost half were suffering from pain while in hospital.