Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Effects of acupressure on menstrual distress and low back pain in dysmenorrheic young adult women: an experimental study.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of acupressure on menstrual distress and low back pain (LBP) in dysmenorrheic young adult women. In all, 129 female students, who had been experiencing dysmenorrhea with LBP during menstruation and who scored more than 4 points on the visual analog scale for pain, were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group (n = 65) received acupressure massage three times a week for 30 minutes on the sanyinjiao (SP6), ciliao (BL32), and taichong (Liver 3) acupoints. ⋯ During the 12-month follow-up, the experimental group had significantly lower menstrual distress and LBP scores than the control group. Among 65 participants in the experimental group, 53 (82%) reported a moderate to high levels of menstrual distress, 51 (78%) reported moderate to high levels of LBP relief, and 49 (75%) reported moderate to high levels of satisfaction with acupressure. Our findings may serve as a reference for health care professionals and young women to improve self-care during menstruation and help further understand the therapeutic effects of acupressure on menstrual distress and LBP.
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Multicenter Study
Generating and selecting pain indicators for brain-injured critical care patients.
Current pain assessment tools for nonverbal critical care patients may not be appropriate for those with brain injury, as these patients demonstrate specific responses to pain. The aim of this study was to generate and select items that could be used to assess pain in brain-injured patients. A sequential mixed-method design was chosen with three consecutive steps: 1. ⋯ All physiologic items showed little variability and their reliability was low. Based on these results, the number of items was reduced to 23. This study identified items that could be specific to brain-injured patients and found that the variability of physiologic items was poorly assessed by clinicians.
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Self-care is an important aspect of managing a chronic disease. In sickle cell disease (SCD), home self-care contributes to individual pain management and thus pain crisis prevention. A better understanding of self-care can help health care providers equip patients with the resources and skills necessary to participate in their disease management. ⋯ Of the hypothesized variables, only income was significantly associated with hospital visits for pain crises (r = -0.219, p = .05). Individuals with SCD may benefit from self-care interventions that enhance social support, SCD self-efficacy, and access to education. To inform intervention development, further investigation is needed regarding daily self-care behaviors used by young adults with SCD.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
The Credibility of Self-reported Pain Among Institutional Older People with Different Degrees of Cognitive Function in Taiwan.
Despite many studies conducted to validate the self-reported pain of vulnerable patients, it is unclear at what level of cognitive impairment individuals still can provide reliable information. The aims of this study were to examine the reliability and validity of self-reported pain by degree of patients' cognitive function and to determine important predictors of self-reported pain in cognitively impaired residents in long-term care facilities. The 414 participants were divided into four groups according to their scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination (nonimpaired, mild, moderate, and severe cognitive impairment). ⋯ Regression analyses revealed that multiple pain indicators together were significantly better predictors of self-reported pain in moderately and severely impaired residents. The findings from this study support residents with cognitive impairment up to a moderate level can report pain reliably. However, for those in later stages of dementia, a multifaceted approach is suggested to help in pain recognition.
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Multicenter Study
Mild, moderate, and severe pain in patients recovering from major abdominal surgery.
Pain interferes with various activities, such as coughing, deep breathing, and ambulation, designed to promote recovery and prevent complications after surgery. Determining appropriate cutpoints for mild, moderate, and severe pain is important, because specific interventions may be based on this classification. The purpose of this research was to determine optimal cutpoints for postoperative patients based on their worst and average pain during hospitalization and after discharge to home, and whether the optimal cutpoints distinguished patients with mild, moderate, or severe pain regarding patient outcomes. ⋯ A substantial proportion of patients experienced moderate to severe pain. The results suggest a narrow boundary between mild and severe pain that interferes with function. The findings indicate that clinicians should seek to aggressively manage postoperative pain ratings greater than 3.