ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Pain is a frequent symptom in the hospital environment. The study aimed to identify the impact of acute pain on activities of daily living and to analyze analgesic adequacy.
METHODS:
Cross-sectional study carried out in six units of a University Hospital. Patients were assessed for the presence and intensity of pain and impact on activities of daily living. Analgesic adequacy was assessed by the Pain Management Index. The association between pain and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics was investigated using the Chi-square test. A logistic regression model was applied to assess the impact of pain intensity on activities.
RESULTS:
134 patients, mean age 53 years, were evaluated. At the moment of the interview 37 (27.6%) participants reported pain and 58 (45.7%) reported pain in the 24 hours before the interview. The average pain intensity was 6.6±2.4 and the pain was more frequent in patients in the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit and Internal Medicine. There was an association between pain and the female sex and there was no association with hospitalization unit, diagnosis, and specialty. Pain affected the ability to eat (p=0.036) and sleep (p=0.008). Most prescriptions (68%) were unsuitable for pain intensity.
CONCLUSION:
Frequency of pain was high, was more prevalent in women, and significantly impaired the ability to eat and sleep. Inadequacy of the analgesic regimen regarding intensity of pain was found in more than half of the patients, indicating that it's necessary to improve pain control in the hospital environment.
Keywords:
Acute pain; Analgesia; Pain; Nursing