Introduction of the Japanese DOLOPLUS-2: A Behavioral Pain Assessment Scale for Elderly with Verbal Communication Disorders

Abstract

The DOLOPLUS-2 scale was developed by Bernard Wary in 1992, and is a behavioral pain assessment scale for elderly individuals with verbal communication disorders. The scale comprises 10 items divided into 3 sub-groups. Each item has four levels of pain intensity, with scores ranging from 0 to 3. A score of ≥5 (out of a maximum of 30) indicates the presence of pain. In 2007, our team translated this scale from French into Japanese, and the translated version was validated in 2012. In this manuscript, I discuss the introduction and use of this scale based on the results of our research.