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Pain evaluation and management in the nursing home
Ferrell BA.. Annals of internal medicine, 1995-11-01
Topic: Health services, long-term care and technology
As many as 45% to 80% of nursing home residents have pain that contributes materially to functional impairment and decreased quality of life. Substantial barriers, including a high frequency of dementia, multiple pain problems, and increased sensitivity to drug side effects often make pain assessment and management more difficult in the nursing home setting. Logistic problems in carrying out diagnostic procedures and management interventions are also common. Pain can be alleviated in nursing homes through the careful use of analgesic drugs combined with nonpharmacologic strategies, including exercise programs and other physical therapies. Elderly nursing home residents are more sensitive to the side effects associated with many analgesic drugs, but this does not justify the failure to treat pain, especially in those who are terminally ill or near the end of life. Structured programs for routine pain assessment and treatment are needed. Physician involvement in pain assessment and management is necessary if pain control is to be improved for nursing home patients.
Key findings
- Elderly nursing home residents are more sensitive to the side effects associated with many analgesic drugs, but this does not justify the failure to treat pain, especially in those who are terminally ill or near the end of life.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 40 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Annals of internal medicine) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1995 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 7574224) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 23 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 40 out of 100. |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Ferrell, B. A. (1995). Pain evaluation and management in the nursing home. Annals of internal medicine. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-123-9-199511010-00007
Vancouver
Ferrell BA. Pain evaluation and management in the nursing home. Annals of internal medicine. 1995. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-123-9-199511010-00007. PMID: 7574224.
BibTeX
@article{ferrell1995-7574224,
author = {Ferrell, B. A.},
title = {{Pain evaluation and management in the nursing home}},
journal = {Annals of internal medicine},
year = {1995},
doi = {10.7326/0003-4819-123-9-199511010-00007},
pmid = {7574224},
url = {https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-123-9-199511010-00007}
}
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