Management of acute pain in dementia: a feasibility study of a robot-assisted intervention

Figures & data

Figure 1 PARO^® robot seal.

Figure 2 The sequential design of the study.

Table 1 Summary of dimensions and questions of the questionnaire survey

Dimension	Item	Response patterns
Painful care-situations	● Which situations do you think are particularly painful in persons with dementia? ● What behavioral manifestations do you mostly notice during situations of pain in persons with dementia?	MC MC
Pain assessment tools	● Do you habitually use a scale to evaluate acute pain in persons with dementia? Please rate the following state ● Understanding of the items is…* ● Administration is…* ● Time required for administration is…*	Y/N LIK LIK LIK
Intervention tool (Paro^® robot)	● What is your opinion about the effectiveness of the scale?* ● In which particular situations of pain do you think you are able to use this scale?* ● Do you know the PARO robot? ● Have you already used PARO in dementia care? ● What do you think of the clinical utility of PARO for the management of pain in PwD? ●Would you be ready to integrate PARO in your daily care activities with patients who are particularly painful?	LIK MC Y/N Y/N MC Y/N

Note: *The same set of questions is asked about the PAINAD^® and the ALGOPLUS^® scales.

Abbreviations: LIK, Likert-type scale; MC, multiple choice; Y/N, yes/no response.

Table 2 Sociodemographic characteristics of Phase 1 participants

	Focus group, n (%)	Questionnaire survey, n (%)
Gender
Female	16 (88.9)	29 (74.4)
Male	2 (11.1)	10 (25.6)
Age (years)
20–29	7 (38.9)	12 (30.8)
30–39	1 (5.6)	11 (28.2)
40–49	7 (38.9)	12 (30.8)
≥50	3 (16.7)	4 (10.3)
Professional activity
Nursing auxiliary	6 (33.3)	13 (33.3)
Nurse	7 (38.9)	14 (35.9)
Medico-psychological assistant	4 (22.2)	8 (20.5)
Psychologist	0 (0)	2 (5.1)
Physician	1 (5.6)	2 (5.1)
Professional experience in geriatric care (years)
1–5	7 (38.9)	13 (33.3)
5–10	3 (16.7)	14 (35.9)
10–20	4 (22.2)	8 (20.5)
≥20	4 (22.2)	4 (10.3)

Figure 3 Percentage of reported painful procedures in persons with dementia according to health professionals.

Figure 4 Concept map from FG of key themes and subthemes related to painful situation in dementia.Abbreviations: FG, focus group; n, number of excerpts from FG participants.