Determinants of patient satisfaction regarding pain care

Background. - The management of pain in hospitalized patients remains a major public hospital priority. It has been the object of three French national programs since 1999. The purpose of this study was to reassess pain prevalence, pain intensity and patient perception of its management ten years after the first national program and to determine the factors related to the patient satisfaction with efforts to decrease pain intensity. Methods. - A 1-day cross-sectional survey in a university hospital. Results. - Pain prevalence was 59%. Pain intensity varied according to the medical department with lower intensity in surgery and obstetrics than medicine departments. Eighty-one percent of patients were satisfied with their pain management. Patient satisfaction was higher when doctors and nurses were heavily involved in the process of pain relief (OR = 6.6; 95% CI 3.8, 11.4), and when their pain had decreased (OR = 2.9; 1.7, 5.0). The magnitude of decrease in pain were higher when the medical team was involved (OR = 1.9; 95% IC 1.1, 3.3) and pain intensity was measured (OR = 1.6; 1.0, 2.4). Perceptions of doctor and nurse involvement in the patient's care was higher when pain intensity was measured (OR = 6.0; 3.4, 10.5), an immediate treatment offered (OR = 3.5; 2.0, 6.2), encouragement to ask for an analgesic was provided (OR = 2.0; 1.1, 3.5) and for patients with acute pain (OR = 2.2; 1.0, 4.7). Conclusions. - This study identifies the factors related to patient satisfaction with pain management and the magnitude of the decrease in pain which should allow further efforts to improve the management of pain and reduce its intensity in hospital inpatients. (c) 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.