The high prevalence of pain among geriatric patients
underlines the need for a reliable and valid instrument
to assess experience of pain. The present
study suggests that pain rating scales such as the
VAS, GRS and NRS can be used to evaluate pain
experience in this geriatric population. However,
agreement between verbally expressed experience of
PAH and the rated experience of pain tends to decrease
with advancing age. This fact indicates that
the pain-evaluating process will be substantially improved
by an additional discrimination supported by
a wide variety of alternative expressions of pain, ache
and hurt, discomfort and distress.