Pain in participants of adult day care centers: Assessment by different raters

The aim of this study is to compare the assessment of pain in 200 elderly persons participating in five senior day care programs, as rated by family caregivers, day care staff members, and the participants themselves. Staff members and participants provided information in a face-to-face interview. Family members provided information about the participants and their demographic characteristics via a mailed questionnaire. Agreement rates among informants ranged between 63% and 69%, showing moderate agreement rates. Health status (as reflected in number of medications taken and the presence of a diagnosis of musculoskeletal disease) and depression were associated with ratings of pain by all the informants. The assessment of pain in the elderly population is very difficult and there is a need for reliable and valid pain assessments to be used by different raters. The relationship between pain, depression and other variables should be further explored.