Predictors of Patient Satisfaction With Pain Management in the Emergency Department

To identify predictors of patient satisfaction with pain control measured after emergency department (ED) discharge. This was a prospective, cross-sectional study conducted in an academic, urban ED in the United States. Adult patients with a pain-related complaint were interviewed via telephone within 72 hr of discharge from the ED. A standardized questionnaire was used to obtain demographic and clinical information. The primary outcome of interest was patient satisfaction with pain management in the ED measured using the following question: "How often was your pain well controlled in the ED?" (0-10 scale; 0 = never, 10 = always). Linear regression analyses were used to identify predictors of pain satisfaction. The study included 75 patients. The mean age of patients was 43 ± 18 years, and the majority of patients were female (n = 47; 63%). There were 24 patients (32%) who had chronic pain conditions, 23 (31%) with depression, and 2 patients who admitted to using heroin. In the multivariate regression analysis, patient perception of enough pain medication provision (coefficient = 2.81; 95% CI [1.35, 4.26]; p < 0.001), staff helpfulness (coefficient = 0.35; 95% CI [0.10, 0.59]; p = 0.006), report of generalized pain (coefficient = -1.62; 95% CI [-2.87, -0.36]; p = 0.013), and lowest pain score achieved in the ED (coefficient = -0.30; 95% CI [-0.53, -0.04]; p = 0.021) was significantly associated with patient satisfaction (model R = 0.57). Patient perception of enough pain medication provision, staff helpfulness, lowest pain scores achieved, and patient report of generalized pain were associated with satisfaction with pain management in the ED.