Journal of Pain Research (Dec 2020)
Pain in People with Advanced Dementia: The Opinions of Kazakh Medical Students
Abstract
Slawomir Tobis,1 Agnieszka Neumann-Podczaska,2 Lyudmila Yermukhanova,3 Gulnara Sultanova,4 Gulnara Kurmanalina,5 Kerbez Kimatova,3 Marzena Dworacka,6 Katarzyna Wieczorowska-Tobis2 1Department of Occupational Therapy, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland; 2Geriatric Unit, Department and Chair of Palliative Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland; 3Department of Public Health and Health Care, West Kazakhstan Marat Ospanov State Medical University, Aktobe, Kazakhstan; 4West Kazakhstan Marat Ospanov State Medical University, Aktobe, Kazakhstan; 5Department of Internal Medicine, West Kazakhstan Marat Ospanov State Medical University, Aktobe, Kazakhstan; 6Department of Pharmacology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, PolandCorrespondence: Slawomir TobisDepartment of Occupational Therapy, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, ul. Swiecickiego 6, 60-781 Poznan, PolandTel +48 61 8546573Email [email protected]: The medical students’ attitude toward pain in people with advanced dementia, while constituting an important factor in care, has rarely been assessed to date. The aim of our study was thus to perform such assessment in medical students in Kazakhstan, to enable an improvement of the existing curriculum (like we previously did in Poland).Materials and Methods: We analyzed the knowledge about pain using a short anonymous questionnaire, which was completed by 112 students of the Medical University of Aktobe, Kazakhstan.Results: On average, students listed symptoms of 1.4 ± 1.2 (out of 6 analyzed) pain areas (median 2.0). The symptoms related to changes in mental status were suggested the most often (57 students: 50.9%). The students who indicated these symptoms also listed a higher number of symptoms from the remaining domains (1,1 ± 1.0 [median 1.0] vs 0.6 ± 0.8 [median 0.0]; p< 0.01). Observational methods in the assessment of the severity of pain in people with dementia were indicated by 44 students (39.3%), but only one participant (0.9%) was able to name an observational scale for pain assessment. Correct answers regarding pain treatment rules were presented by 18 students (16.0%), and the answers of the next 47 participants (42.0%) were very general but suggested the same treatment no matter what the cognitive status.Conclusion: The study revealed gaps in the knowledge of Kazakh medical students regarding pain in advanced stages of dementia. Demographic changes, combined with the coexistence of pain with dementia, indicate that medical students worldwide must have sufficient knowledge and skills to adequately care for the continually growing number of people with these conditions. It is imperative in countries like Kazakhstan, where the dementia burden was unrecognized until now, but it will blow up in the near future.Keywords: education, pain, advanced dementia, medical students, knowledge
