Managing Pain and Psychosis Symptoms in Nursing Home Patients: Results from a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial (COSMOS).

OBJECTIVES: In nursing homes (NHs), 30% to 60% of patients experience daily pain and >80% have dementia. This can lead to neuropsychiatric symptoms, including psychosis symptoms such as delusion. We investigated if there was a relationship between pain and psychosis symptoms over time. We also aimed to investigate the effect of a multicomponent intervention (COSMOS) on pain, psychosis symptoms, and analgesic prescription. DESIGN: COSMOS is a cluster-randomized, single blinded, controlled trial. Each NH unit was defined as a cluster and randomized to either the COSMOS intervention or care as usual. The COSMOS intervention is a multicomponent intervention, consisting of staff training in communication, pain treatment, medication review, organization of activities, and safety. The intervention lasted for 4 months with a follow-up at month 9. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-seven units from 33 Norwegian NHs in 8 municipalities. The study included 723 patients aged ≥65 years, residing at the NH ≥2 weeks before inclusion. Patients with a life expectancy <6 months were excluded. MEASURES: Pain was measured using the Mobilization-Observation-Behavior-Intensity-Dementia Pain Scale. Psychosis symptoms were measured using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-NH version. Measurements were performed at baseline, and months 4 and 9. RESULTS: Multilevel Mixed-Effect statistical analysis found that psychosis symptoms as a group (odds ratio [OR] 2.03, P = .009), and delusion (OR 2.12, P = .007) were associated with pain over time. No significant intervention effect on psychosis symptoms was observed. Compared with the control group, people with dementia in the intervention group experienced less musculoskeletal pain (ß: -0.47, P = .047). Analgesic prescription was not affected by the intervention. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Pain is associated with psychosis symptoms, and pain assessment should be done when making treatment decisions on psychosis symptoms in NH patients. The COSMOS intervention improved musculoskeletal pain in people with dementia, but not psychosis symptoms, and there is need for further studies on treatment of psychosis symptoms in NH patients.

How, Why and Where it Hurts-Breaking Down Pain Syndrome Among Nursing Home Patients With Dementia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the COSMOS Trial.

BACKGROUND: Between 40%-60% of nursing home patients with dementia suffer from chronic and acute pain despite increasing their analgesic drug prescription. AIMS: Determine the locations and intensity of pain and the association between quality of life (QoL) and four stratified pain-analgesic groups: (1) pain-analgesics treatment; (2) pain-no analgesics; (3) no pain-analgesics treatment; and (4) no pain-no analgesics. DESIGN: Multicenter, multicomponent cluster randomized controlled Communication, Systematic assessment and treatment of pain, Medication review, Occupational therapy, and Safety - an effectiveness (COSMOS) trial. PARTICIPANTS: At baseline, 723 nursing home patients were enrolled; 463 were completely evaluated for the presence of pain and included in the cross-sectional analyses. METHODS: Data were collected using the following tests: Cognitive function (Mini-Mental-State Evaluation [MMSE]); Quality of Life in Late stage of Dementia (QUALID); Dementia-Specific QoL (QUALIDEM); Mobilization-Observation-Behavior-Intensity-Dementia Pain Scale (MOBID-2); and number of analgesic drug prescriptions. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare pain and QoL across pain-analgesics groups. RESULTS: The majority of participants (78%) had moderate-to-severe dementia, were female (74%), and a mean age of 86.7 years. Almost 44% reported clinically significant pain, whereas 69% had ≥2 pain locations, especially in the musculoskeletal system. Some 33.5% of participants had pain receiving analgesics, 10% had pain with no analgesics, and 27% had no pain receiving analgesics. Patients evaluated with clinically significant pain intensity scores had lower QoL (<.001) compared with assessments relying on different pain locations. CONCLUSION: Untreated musculoskeletal and multi-located pain is still common in nursing home patients with dementia. A significant share without pain receive analgesics. Proper pain assessment and regular re-assessment are prerequisites for the prescribing and deprescribing of analgesics. Pain intensity scores are more significantly connected to QoL. This must be stressed when evaluating pain and QoL.

Psychosis symptoms in nursing home residents with and without dementia-Cross-sectional analyses from the COSMOS study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics of nursing home residents with psychosis and the association with potential underlying factors, such as pain, sleep disturbances, and antipsychotic medication. METHOD: Five hundred forty-five residents with and without dementia from 67 Norwegian nursing home units were included in the cross-sectional analyses. Psychosis was the main outcome measure in our study; other outcome measures include quality of life (QoL), activities of daily living (ADL) function, cognitive function, pain, and antipsychotic medication. RESULTS: One hundred twelve residents had one or more symptoms of psychosis, and compared with residents without psychosis, they had lower QoL (p < 0.001), ADL function (p = 0.003), and cognitive functioning (p = 0.001). Adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that psychosis was associated with the prevalence of pain (OR: 3.19; 95% CI, 1.94-5.24), sleep disturbances (OR: 4.51; 95% CI, 2.91-6.99), and total number of medication (OR: 1.10; 95% CI, 1.03-1.17). Residents with psychosis but without antipsychotic medication had better QoL (p = 0.005) compared with residents receiving any antipsychotics. CONCLUSION: Psychosis in NH residents is associated with pain, sleep disturbances, and number of medications. Residents with psychosis have poor QoL, although better QoL was observed among those who did not use antipsychotic medication.

The Interactive Relationship between Pain, Psychosis, and Agitation in People with Dementia: Results from a Cluster-Randomised Clinical Trial.

Background. Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in people with dementia, and pain is thought to be an important underlying factor. Pain has previously been associated with agitation, and pain treatment has been shown to ameliorate agitated behaviour. So far, the association between pain and psychosis and the effect of pain treatment on psychotic symptoms is unclear. Furthermore, the impact of opioid treatment on psychosis is not established. Aim. To investigate the efficacy of a stepwise protocol for treating pain (SPTP) on psychosis and agitation measured with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Nursing Home version, and to explore the impact of opioid analgesics on psychosis. Method. Secondary analyses are from a cluster-randomised controlled trial including 352 patients with advanced dementia and agitation from 18 nursing homes in Western Norway. The intervention group received pain treatment according to SPTP. Results. Pain was associated with disinhibition (adjusted OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.10-1.34) and irritability (adjusted OR: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.01-1.21) at baseline. Pain treatment reduced agitation (p < 0.001, df = 1; 300) and aberrant motor behaviour (p = 0.017, df = 1; 300). Psychosis was reduced in people with at least one symptom at baseline (p = 0.034, df = 1; 135). The use of opioid analgesics did not increase psychotic symptoms. Study Registration. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01021696), Norwegian Medicines Agency, EudraCT (EudraCTnr: 2008-007490-20).