A research team from the University of Cordoba’s Nursing Department has developed a promising approach for diagnosing pain in people with dementia, particularly those in advanced stages of the disease who struggle to communicate their pain effectively.
Pain is often underdiagnosed and undertreated in dementia patients, highlighting the need for alternative and complementary methods of pain assessment.
The study, led by researchers Vanesa Cantón, Pilar Carrera, and Manuel Rich in collaboration with the University of Jaén, explores the use of saliva as a non-invasive tool for detecting pain in patients with moderate to advanced dementia who have communication difficulties.
This approach aims to complement existing observational pain scales and provide a simple means for healthcare professionals and caregivers to assess the patient’s pain status, enabling appropriate pain management and improving the patient’s quality of life.
The researchers focused on two pain biomarkers found in saliva: sTNFR2 (Soluble Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor 2) and SIgA (immunoglobulin A). These biomarkers are associated with pain through inflammatory processes, which are in turn linked to dementia.
The study compared saliva samples from two groups: one consisting of patients over 65 years of age diagnosed with moderate to advanced stage dementia and communication impairments, and a control group of individuals over 65 without dementia.
The results revealed important insights into pain biomarker levels. Patients with dementia exhibited lower levels of sTNFR2 compared to the control group, indicating a modulation of inflammation.
Conversely, the levels of sIgA were higher in people with dementia, suggesting an alteration in the immune system’s response.
These findings underscore the potential of these saliva biomarkers to assess pain development throughout the progression of dementia, particularly during its moderate to advanced stages.
The ability to detect pain in patients with limited communication abilities is crucial for their quality of life. Previously, the standard method for assessing pain in such patients involved the PAINAD scale, which relies on observing five behavioral indicators: breathing, vocalization, facial expression, body language, and consolability.
The proposed saliva biomarkers offer a promising complement to the PAINAD scale and can help confirm the effectiveness of pain assessment in dementia patients.
The researchers emphasized the importance of this non-invasive method for improving the quality of life of patients with an incurable disease like dementia.
Future steps may involve testing this approach with a larger sample size and in specific care environments, such as nursing homes, to further validate its utility.
The study was published in the European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience.
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The research findings can be found in European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience.
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