title: The effectiveness of a self-reporting bedside pain assessment tool for oncology inpatients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pain is common during cancer treatment, and patient self-reporting of pain is an essential first step for ideal cancer pain management. However, many studies on cancer pain management report that, because pain may be underestimated, it is often inadequately managed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of bedside self-assessment of pain intensity for inpatients using a self-reporting pain board.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty consecutive inpatients admitted to the Oncology Department of Chungbuk National University Hospital were included in this observational prospective study from February 2011 to December 2011. The medical staff performed pain assessments by asking patients questions and using verbal rated scales (VRS) over 3 consecutive days. Then, for 3 additional days, patients used a self-reporting pain board attached to the bed, which had movable indicators representing 0-10 on a numeric rating scale (NRS) and the frequency of breakthrough pain.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patient reliability over the medical staff's pain assessment increased from 74% to 96% after applying the self-reporting pain board (p=0.004). The gap (mean±standard deviation [SD]) between the NRS reported by patients and the NRS recorded on the medical records decreased from 3.16±2.08 to 1.00±1.02 (p<0.001), and the level of patient satisfaction with pain management increased from 54% to 82% (p=0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that the self-reporting bedside pain assessment tool provides a reliable and effective means of assessing pain in oncology inpatients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, South Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Bi
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hye-Suk
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Jung Hwa
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Bo Ram
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Sung-Nam
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Kyoung Hoon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Yim
authors.forename: Young Duck
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Ki Hyeong
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Wun-Jae
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung Taik
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D056910:Republic of Korea; D057566:Self Report