RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Until recently the measurement of pain in cognitively impaired patients represented a neglected field in the diagnostics and treatment of pain. Investigations indicate a prevalence of pain in nursing home residents of between 45 % and 80 %. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study investigated the reliability of the German translation of the Doloshort scale and compared it with the visual analog scale (VS). The aim of this study was to determine the practical applicability of this scale in the clinical routine and to calculate the intrarater reliability (retest) and interrater reliability. RESULTS: The interrater and intrarater reliability of the Doloshort scale was between 0.949 and 0.970. There was a highly significant correlation between the values of the Doloshort scale and the VAS. CONCLUSION: The Doloshort scale is a well suited measurement instrument for the evaluation of pain in cognitively impaired patients. Because of the short form only simple instructions are necessary and it has a high acceptance with users.