Hospitalized orthopedic patients in Kuwait: Assessment of pain

All eligible patients hospitalized in the orthopedic hospital in Kuwait during July 1990 (n = 79) were interviewed about their pain and its management. The nurse responsible for the primary care of the patient was also interviewed. Patients and their nurses rated independently how much pain the patient was currently experiencing, and had experienced at specified times, using a 10-point visual analogue scale (VAS). Only a third of the patients reported being without pain when interviewed; a quarter reported having experienced extreme pain during the preceding 24 h, and three quarters reported pain during hospitalization. Nurses provided consistently lower pain estimates than their patients. Among the issues discussed are: the prevalence of pain found, the generality of the findings and their implications for pain management, reported reactions to uncontrolled pain, nurses' assessment of the addiction risks of using opiates to manage postsurgery pain and possible reasons for discordant VAS ratings by nurses and patients.