Public perceptions of postoperative pain and its relief

In order to evaluate the general public's knowledge of postoperative pain and its management, a simple questionnaire was devised and sent out to five general practices in Scotland and Yorkshire. Questionnaires were completed voluntarily by 529 people attending their general practitioner for reasons not related to surgery. Five hundred and fifteen completed questionnaires were analysed. Two hundred and thirty-nine (46.4%) responders had undergone previous major surgery whereas 267 (51.8%) had not. Attitudes to pain varied greatly and confirm the findings of other surveys that amongst the general public there is little or no understanding of the nature of postoperative pain or of the methods available to treat it. Despite the published literature, the public have a high degree of confidence in the ability of doctors and nurses to treat such pain. Widespread public and professional education is required before further improvements can be made to such a universal and basic clinical problem.