The effectiveness of continuing education in postoperative pain management: results from a follow-up study

Studies still report high levels of postoperative pain. Inadequate treatment of patients experiencing pain is often due to lack of understanding of pain.

The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a course on "pain," evaluated by a pretest-posttest design, with a questionnaire mailed to the 168 participants in February 2005. The course consisted of seven sessions held from October 2002 to June 2003 in a public hospital in Udine, Italy. This hospital has 710 beds and more than 30,000 admissions a year. The course, included in the "pain-free hospital" national objective, consisted of lectures, discussions, and role playing.

Of the 10 test questions participants answered, seven showed a significant difference between the posttest taken at the end of the course and the posttest taken after 18 months.

It is believed that knowledge is progressively lost if refresher courses are not held on a regular basis.