Pain knowledge and attitudes of healthcare providers: practice characteristic differences.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of different healthcare professionals regarding pain issues such as addiction, the assessment of pain, scheduling, use of analgesics, and pediatric pain. Additionally, to determine whether differences exist based on hospital setting, years of service, clinical practice area, and country of origin.


METHODS
A total of 686 nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and medical/nursing students from three hospitals completed a 17-item survey evaluating knowledge and beliefs about pain.


METHODS
The three hospital settings were a large city hospital, a private community hospital, and a state medical school-based hospital.


RESULTS
The overall percentage "correct" score was only 56%. Physicians scored significantly higher, and pharmacists scored significantly lower than other groups. Nurses scored significantly less concordantly than physicians on 11 of the 17 items. Those identifying anesthesiology as their clinical practice area scored significantly higher than all other areas, whereas those practicing within medicine demonstrated significantly more "correct" scores than those in surgery. City hospital respondents scored significantly lower than professionals practicing in the other two hospitals; non-U.S. country of origin professionals scored significantly lower than U.S. country of origin healthcare professionals. There were no significant differences based on postgraduate years of practice.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant knowledge deficits regarding currently accepted principles of pain management practice as well as beliefs that could interfere with optimal care, mandate a need for educational interventions. Significant differences by profession, clinical practice area, and hospital setting reflect populations to be targeted for interventions. Unwarranted fear of addiction is a misunderstood and important concept that needs to be addressed.
Lebovits
A H
AH
Department of Anesthesiology, New York University Medical Center, New York 10016, USA.
Florence
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I
Bathina
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Hunko
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Fox
M T
MT
Bramble
C Y
CY
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D009726:Nurses; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D059408:Pain Management; D010595:Pharmacists; D010820:Physicians; D011364:Professional Practice; D013337:Students, Medical; D013338:Students, Nursing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires