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Published on: July 4, 2018
[Prevalence of pain among patients admitted to a clinical hospital]
Eduardo Stonski1, Daniel Weissbrod1, Jimena Vicens2
1Servicio de Clínica Médica, Departamento de Medicina Interna, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Background:
Pain prevalence during hospital admission is variable, with estimates ranging from 32 to 77%.
Aim:
To determine pain prevalence during admission to a clinical hospital.
Material And Methods:
Patients admitted to medical and surgical wards were interrogated about the presence of pain within 48 to 72 hours after admission. Subjective pain was analyzed using a scale ranging from 0 to 10. Data was analyzed separately for medical, surgical, and obstetrical patients.
Results:
A total of 736 patients aged 18 to 94 years (416 women) were recruited. Pain prevalence at 48 hours after admission was 56% (95% confidence intervals (CI (52.7 to 60.1). Pain prevalence in medical, surgical and obstetric patients was 37% (95% CI 31.4 to 42.1), 70% (95% CI 64.5 to 75.5) and 77% (95% CI 68.6 to 84), respectively. The median pain intensities in medical, surgical, and obstetrical patients were 7 (interquartile range (IQR) 6-8), 7 (IQR 5-8) y 7 (IQR 5-8), respectively.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of pain among patients admitted to the hospital is high, especially in obstetric and surgical units.
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