Pao-Feng Tsai, PhD, RN
Assistant Professor

My primary research focus is on issues related to chronic pain and chronic illness, such as nursing management of demented patients with chronic pain from osteoarthritis. I am currently funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research to investigate the possible objective measures of chronic pain in elders with osteoarthritis. Many demented patients suffer from chronic pain that may exacerbate existing cognitive impairment and lead to further suffering. Inability to communicate pain poses great difficulty for pain management in demented patients; therefore, their pain tends to be under-treated. Since pain management depends on adequate pain assessment, it is necessary to find a valid tool to accurately assess pain in demented elders. Musculoskeletal complaints, e.g. arthritis, account for most of the pain complaints in the nursing home demented patients. Finding an appropriate intervention to reduce their musculoskeletal pain complaint will benefit many demented patients in nursing homes.

I am also funded by the UAMS Alzheimer’s Disease Center to investigate the impact of Tai Chi, a Chinese martial art, on cognition in elders with cognitive impairment and pain. Tai Chi has been used to improve physical function and health. Tai Chi also emphasizes the use of concentration and coordination, thus providing additional mental benefits for the elders. In general, exercise improves cognitive functioning. Therefore, it is hypothesized that Tai Chi should benefit cognitive functioning in elders with cognitive impairment through reducing their pain and stabilizing the physical stress response.

Due to the fact that women in their mid 40s begin to show some symptoms of osteoarthritis, my future research will focus more on the intervention for middle age women with osteoarthritis. Appropriate nursing intervention in the early stage of osteoarthritis will slow the disease progression and prevent them to develop pain and disability in the future. In addition, I will continue to use Tai Chi as an alternative to pharmacological interventions or in combination with pharmacological interventions in future studies to investigate its long-term effect on cognitive functioning. The long-term goal of this program of research is to seek a non-pharmacological solution to alleviating the pain and slowing the declining of cognitive function, thus promoting the greatest possible autonomy, before elders get into the stage of severe cognitive impairment.

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