Assessment of pain in the area of out-of-hospital emergencies in Catalonia

Abstract

Objective To know the assessment and pain management used by the professionals of the Medical Emergency System (EMS) in Catalonia. Methodology Descriptive, observational and transversal study in the field of out-of-hospital care, from August to October 2015 in Catalonia. The sample was non-probabilistic of convenience, as an information collection technique was used an online survey sent by the company SEM S.A. to all workers of S.E.M. The project was approved by the management of the company. It was studied demographic variables, workplace (SVA Mike, SVA India, SVB), professional category (Physician, Nurse, Technician), years of experience in the type of patient to whom the pain is assessed, the scales of pain used, the professionals’ perception about the pain approach and the management of the analgesia within the care. Data analysis has been done with the SPSS version 20.0 per IBM statistical package. Results From a total population of 932 EMS workers belonging to the professional categories of physician, nurse and technician in health emergencies (TES), 152 responses were analyzed (the response rate was 16.30%). 95.4% of the participants assessed the pain in the patient's initial anamnesis, 94.1% used scales. Physicians and nurses used the EVA scale (54.6%) and medical emergency technicians used the numerical scale (45.4%) (p<0.001). The 46.7% one applied the analgesia they considered opportune and 96.7% of doctors and nurses did a subsequent revaluation the pain. Conclusions The majority of participants assessed pain systematically and on a scale. It would be of great interest to unify criteria of evaluation and pain management, as well as to have specific protocols updated in the prehospital setting.