• Patrick A Bovier, Agathe Charvet, Agatta Cleopas, Nicole Vogt, and Thomas V Perneger.
• Quality of Care Unit, Geneva University Hospitals, Switzerland. patrick.bovier@hcuge.ch
• Am. J. Med. 2004 Oct 15; 117 (8): 569-74.

PurposeHospitalized patients commonly experience pain. We investigated the association between patients' reported use of recommended pain management practices and overall pain relief.MethodsAll adult patients discharged during a 1-month period from a Swiss teaching hospital were invited to complete a mailed survey that included the Picker patient experience questionnaire, questions on pain relief during hospitalization, and questions on various procedures that are recommended as standards of pain management.ResultsOf 2156 eligible patients, 1518 (70%) participated. Sixty-nine percent (n = 1050) had experienced pain during their hospital stay, of whom 71% (n = 697/978) reported complete pain relief. After adjustment for sex, age, general health, and hospital department, pain relief was associated independently with availability of physicians (odds ratio [OR] = 11; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.3 to 36 for excellent vs. poor availability), having received information about pain and its management (OR = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.8 to 4.2), regular pain assessment (OR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2 to 2.8), modification of pain treatment when ineffective (OR = 3.0; 95% CI: 1.6 to 5.6), and waiting less than 10 minutes for pain medications (OR = 3.5; 95% CI: 1.9 to 6.6).ConclusionPatient reports that recommended pain management procedures had been used were associated with better self-reported pain relief among hospitalized patients.

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