Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disease among elderly, representing the predominant cause of pain in this population. The purposes of this study were to assess knee OA pain in non-cognitively impaired older people by subjective and observed pain-assessment tools and to compare the findings of the two tools. Methods: A convenience sample of elderly was recruited from the orthopaedic outpatient clinics of two hospitals in northern Taiwan. Their self-report pain was measured by the Verbal Rating Scale. Their observed pain was assessed by research nurses using an observed pain-assessment tool. Results: Most participants suffered slight to moderate pain. They did not show any pain-related face expressions but few body movements were observed at rest. During structured activities, participants most commonly showed four pain-related behaviours: wrinkled forehead, slight frown, restricted gait or mobility, and mobility changes. Compared participants’ Verbal Rating Scale score and research nurses’ observed pain-related behaviours, only mobility changes, restricted gait or mobility, and slight frown achieved the consistency greater than 50%. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance of appropriately assessing OA pain in elderly patients. Patients and health care providers shall work together to improve pain assessment for elderly.