Acute pain management services: a comparison between Air Force and U.S. hospitals

The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess the prevalence of acute pain management services (APMS) in Air Force medical facilities. There are no published reports on the current status of Air Force pain programs. This study used a telephone survey to all facilities worldwide that house an anesthesia department. Anesthesia providers in charge of pain services or department chiefs were interviewed from December 1996 to May 1997. Respondents were asked questions related to the initiation of a formal APMS, components, and familiarity with the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research guidelines on pain management. Data analysis described current practices and used chi 2 analysis to compare results with a national study of U.S. hospitals. Air Force anesthesia departments (45%) had established as many acute pain services as U.S. hospitals (42%). Formal pain programs are becoming more prevalent in Air Force hospitals. These findings suggest an increased awareness of the need for pain management and future establishment of pain programs.