Assessing clinical outcomes: patient satisfaction with pain management

The problem of unresolved pain in hospitalized patients is costly both in monetary terms and in patient comfort. Concern about patients' satisfaction and well-being led to a study to determine the characteristics of the pain experience as reported by the hospitalized patients. This study also examined the recently revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire (APS-POQ), particularly in regard to results from newly added items and overall reliability and validity. The data provide a cross-sectional description of patients' experience with pain in a large, urban teaching hospital. One hundred fifty-seven adult subjects reported moderate to high levels of current pain intensity, worst pain, and general level of pain in the last 24 hr, as well as moderate to high rates of pain-related interference with care activities. While patients indicated that they were satisfied with their pain management and with the responses of physicians and nurses to complaints of pain, patient satisfaction was inversely and significantly correlated with pain now and general level of pain in the last 24 hr. When patients with high pain intensity (> 7) were separated into satisfied and dissatisfied groups for analysis, no significant differences were found regarding pain-related interference with various activities including mood, relationships, sleep, etc. The majority of patients indicated that they were still in pain, but 41% did not wish to receive a stronger dose of pain medication. Significant differences between those who did and did not want more pain medication were found in that younger patients were more likely to want more pain medication. Additionally, analysis of these two groups found that patients who were still in pain and desired more pain medication reported significantly higher levels of pain-related interference with activity and sleep. The inverse correlation of current pain intensity and general level of pain with overall satisfaction with pain management differs from findings of previous studies. One added item queried patients regarding approaches they had used to manage pain in the last 24 hr. Oral pain medications, prayer, intravenous and intramuscular injections were the top-ranked methods. The findings guide further analysis of the APS-POQ questionnaire. Recommendations of items to be retained in the questionnaire are made based on data analysis. Refining the questionnaire will allow health-care providers to increase their understanding of issues related to pain management. The findings provoke several questions for further study, such as what are age and ethnic differences regarding pain intensity and satisfaction, as well as the predictors of aversion of receiving more pain medication when pain persists.