Pain assessment and treatment challenges in patients with dementia

Pain is likely to be equally prevalent in people with dementia, however, only a small minority are prescribed regular analgesics. This is a key issue since untreated pain leads to reduced quality of life and increases the likelihood of emergence of behavioural and psychological symptoms such as agitation. Better assessment and treatment of pain in this fragile patient group are therefore mandatory. In this context, we reviewed the literature on pain and dementia and summarised the best available evidence regarding the frequency of pain and pain diagnosis. Unfortunately, hardly any randomized, controlled studies of pain treatment efficacy in patients with dementia are available, with the consequence that most pain treatment recommendations are not based on the highest level of evidence.