The feasibility of pain assessment in the prehospital setting.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the feasibility of prehospital pain measurement among patients 13 years of age or older using a verbal and numeric rating scale and to assess the severity of pain in a prehospital patient population.


METHODS
Retrospective cross-sectional study of emergency medical services (EMS) run sheets after the adoption of a universal prehospital pain assessment protocol. Data were abstracted from a sequential (1:4) sample of run sheets from the first three months after adoption of the protocol. Verbal rating scale (VRS) and numeric rating scale (NRS) pain assessment information was obtained, along with demographic, location, and call information. Run sheets without pain assessment underwent structured review and classification according to predefined protocol. Descriptive statistics and 95% confidence intervals were calculated.


RESULTS
A total of 1,227 run sheets were reviewed, 582 (47%) of patients were male, and 452 (36%) were 65 years of age or older. A total of 907 (75%) were nontrauma transports and 27 (2%) were unconscious. Among conscious patients, pain was assessed using the protocol in 1,002 of 1,200 (84% [range, 81%-86%]). Among patients reporting pain, 104 of 518 (20% [range, 17%-24%] completed a VRS but not an NRS. The greatest risk factor for no pain assessment was altered mental status (39% of patients not assessed). Forty-eight percent (23 of 48) of patients with altered mental status reporting pain completed a VRS only. Thirty-one percent (range, 28%-34%) of all patients in the sample reported moderate or severe pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Prehospital pain assessment using a VRS and NRS was feasible in this patient population. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding in other settings. Moderate or severe pain was present in approximately 31% of patients.
McLean
Samuel A
SA
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan Medical Center/St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-0303, USA. samclean@umich.edu
Domeier
Robert M
RM
DeVore
Heather K
HK
Hill
Elizabeth M
EM
Maio
Ronald F
RF
Frederiksen
Shirley M
SM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index