Assessment of postoperative pain: Contributing factors to the differences between patients and doctors

This study was undertaken to compare the assessment of pain intensity by 50 patients and by their doctors according to a visual analog scale 5 h and 20 h after major abdominal surgery, and to examine the relationships between the differences in rating of patients and doctors and the factors inherent in the patients which include preoperative expectation of pain, level of anxiety, and the surgical history of the patient. The ratings given by the patients were significantly higher than those given by the doctors at both time periods. However, the correlation between the ratings given by the two was low:r=0.31 andr s=0.27 at 5 h after the operations, andr=0.58 andr s=0.49 at 20 h. The results of analysis using Hayashi's quantification theory Type II indicated a moderate association between the rating difference and the patient's age, surgical history, preoperative state of anxiety, and expectation of pain. It is concluded that postoperative pain management, whether in clinical practice or in research, necessitates more consideration of the several above-mentioned individual factors and a preoperative interview in which the patient's level of anxiety and the amount of information the patient has concerning the surgery and post-operative pain is clearly assessed.