Assessment of patients' wound-related pain experiences in University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

This study was necessitated by the international recognition of wound-related pain (WRP) as a must-address issue and patient-centred concerns. The aim of this study was to assess patients' WRP experiences at rest and in relation to dressing change. This descriptive study utilised a WRP questionnaire which incorporated a visual analogue scale of 0-10 for data collection. A total of 109 patients participated in this study; 95 mu 4% of the participants experienced wound pain at rest and during performance of activities of daily living, which were moderate (47.1%) and severe (30.8%) in intensity. Also, 91.7% of the participants experienced wound dressing change-related pain, mostly as moderate (47.0%) and severe (28.0%) pain. The major factors that worsenedWRP experiences were touch/handling, change in position/movement, wound cleansing, removal of dressings and usage of honey as a dressing agent, while the use of analgesic and brief rest between dressing change were considered the major strategies that can relieve WRP. WRP experiences have been reported by patients at rest, during performance of activities of daily living and at wound dressing change. A need to incorporate WRP assessment has been observed, which is vital in improving wound care outcome.