Pain Behavior Tool Critique
Clinicians often seek information on the array of tools available for assessing pain in those with dementia unable to self-report their pain. Many of the existing tools have been included in integrative and systematic reviews and have varying levels of psychometric support, validation in different languages and clinical usefulness.
We are providing information that can be helpful in understanding the differences between tools and the fit of a given tool with the population of interest. A pain behavior assessment tool can be used as part of a comprehensive assessment. See Assessment in Cognitively Impaired for more information on assessment of pain in persons with dementia.
We provide information on selected pain behavior tools and have organized the tools into those most recommended for clinical use by English speaking caregivers and other tools.
For each tool, we provide a summary about the tool and its reliability and validity and clinical utility that includes contact information for the tool and a reference list of studies that examine the tool. In addition, if we were able to obtain permission we have placed a copy of the tool that can be downloaded and used for clinical purposes.