Scales in pain control in patients post-ictus with aphasia: A comparative study

The assessment of pain and its control is a key point in the care received by patients during their hospital stay, with the nurse being an essential figure, especially in stroke patients with secondary aphasia, which makes it difficult to verbalise pain. The aim of this study was to find out whether the use of a specific pain control scale and the more precise administration of analgesic treatment has a positive impact on indicators such as average stay length, dependence degree and agitation episodes. By means of a longitudinal randomised group design study, within a two-week period, we compared the management and recording of pain using a Pain Indicator Behaviour Scale (N = 41) and a Verbal Numerical Scale or Visual Analogue Scale (N = 39), in patients with language impairment after suffering a stroke who were admitted to the Stroke Unit of the Neurology Department of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. The results obtained, despite being in line with what was conjectured, are not statistically significant. However, some statistical models have shown the usefulness of some factors (level of training, nurses experience, previous episodes of stroke, among others) in the prediction of a better evolution, with a predictive capacity between 20-37%, which justifies the necessity of further studies and reinforces the role of the variables studied in the care of this type of patient.