Comparación psicométrica de las escalas: PAINAD y Abbey Pain Scale en centros sociosanitarios de Barcelona.

Abstract

Introduction: It is estimated that 30░-50░% of people with dementia experience chronic pain in nursing homes in Spain. Despite the fact that there are many validated scales for the assessment of pain in people with dementia, there ́s still no one that can be considered as the gold-standard. Furthermore, there are no studies carried out in this regard in a social and health environment. Therefore, we propose as main objectives the psychometric comparison of the PAINAD scale and the Abbey Pain Scale (ABBEY) in people with dementia in long-term care facilities. Methodology: To achieve the objectives we carried out simultaneously: a psychometric comparison analysis and, a descriptive cross-sectional design. Those over 65 years of age with moderate-severe dementia admitted to social health centers in the Baix Llobregat health area were included. Results: Cronbach's alpha at rest for the PAINAD scale was 0.847 and 0.845 during toilet. For the ABBEY scale, a Cronbach's alpha of 0.728 was obtained at rest and 0.814 during toilet. Both scales showed good concordances, but in the item analysis, the physical changes and the physiological changes of the ABBEY showed very little sensitivity. The prevalence of pain at baseline was 43.9░% and during grooming it was 73.5░%. Conclusions: Both scales maintained good psychomimetric properties but the PAINAD scale is clearly better valued. The prevalence of pain in people with dementia admitted to health centers is 43.9░%. Pain in people with dementia may need to be measured during movement activity to reveal actual pain.