title: Pain management at inpatient wards of a university hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This is an exploratory, descriptive and transversal study aiming to determine the prevalence, characterization, location, and measurement and discuss pharmacological analgesic measures for acute pain management in five inpatient wards of a university hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  We enrolled 856 subjects in the study, of whom 272 were in pain at the time. Information related to pain was obtained using a bedside structured interview. Numeric pain scale and body diagram were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analgesia was assessed through medical records. The overall prevalence of pain was 31.8%, with severe pain in 44.2% and mean of 6.6 on numeric pain scale. The main reason was trauma and the most common site the abdomen. The most widely used analgesic was dipyrone (76.1%) with/without combination. Strong opioid was prescribed to 4.4%. For 27.5% there was no improvement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that pain is highly prevalent, poorly evaluated, undertreated, with inappropriate use of analgesics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Pain Clinic, Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Brazil. ribeirofelix@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Sonia B Felix
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: João Carlos Pizani
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: João Batista
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Márcia M Santos
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Felix
authors.forename: Sabrina Martins
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Barroso
authors.forename: Lucas Felix de
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Andreza A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Felix
authors.forename: Valdênia das Graças
authors.initials: Vd
authors.lastname: Nascimento
authors.forename: Matheus F Felix
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Fátima A Emm Faleiros
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Sousa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D059408:Pain Management; D010147:Pain Measurement; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics