ABSTRACT
This study examined the clinical usefulness of the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ). Thirty postoperative patients were asked to describe their postoperative pain and were then administered the SF-MPQ. Eighteen (60%) used exact SF-MPQ sensory or affective words or synonyms to describe their postoperative pain during the interview. These results provide further evidence of the clinical relevance of the SF-MPQ sensory and affective scales. Pain descriptions by patients that go beyond pain intensity descriptions may communicate more precise information about the pain and lead to more effective pain interventions. Patients with difficulty describing their pain might be assisted by using the SF-MPQ.
Subject(s)
Pain Measurement , Pain, Postoperative , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Professional-Patient Relations , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
This descriptive study explored how patients communicate their pain and pain management needs after surgery. Thirty postoperative patients were interviewed. The majority described avoiding or delaying communicating their pain at some point during their hospitalization. Reasons for decreased pain communication included not wanting to complain; not wanting to take the provider away from other patients; avoiding unpleasant analgesic side effects; and not wanting to take "drugs." Postoperative patients may be unclear about their role in pain management. Pain management communication problems identified in this study could be used to design intervention studies to improve pain communication and consequent pain relief.
Subject(s)
Analgesics/administration & dosage , Communication , Pain Measurement , Pain, Postoperative/drug therapy , Professional-Patient Relations , Adult , Ethnicity , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Pain, Postoperative/ethnology , Pain, Postoperative/nursing , Sex Factors , United StatesSubject(s)
Emergency Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Emergency Services, Psychiatric/statistics & numerical data , Mental Health Services/statistics & numerical data , Patient Compliance , Referral and Consultation/statistics & numerical data , Ambulatory Care , Crisis Intervention , Humans , Mental Disorders/therapyABSTRACT
A study was conducted in February and March 1976 to determine those characteristics of psychiatric patients seen in a general emergency department which were associated with a subsequent hospitalization. Two hundred eighteen patients were rated on a questionnaire which covered demographic data, social history and support system, present illness, compliance, diagnosis, and disposition. Sixty-four percent of patients were evaluated by psychiatric residents. The remaining patients were interviewed by non-doctoral psychiatric workers and subsequently reexamined by residents. The data show that overall severity of illness and lack of preceding psychiatric treatment, as well as difficulties in management, are related to the hospitalization of psychotic patients. In nonpsychotic patients, hospitalization was more often related to the presence of depression and solitary living conditions than to the overall severity of symptoms.
