Pain incidence, assessment, and management in Vietnam: a cross-sectional study of 12,136 respondents

Factors Associated With Knowledge and Attitude Among Vietnamese Nursing Staff Regarding Pain Management in a Vietnam National Hospital

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Nurses play an important role in providing holistic care and effective pain management, which is significantly associated with their knowledge and attitudes. Limited evidence is available from Vietnamese nursing studies evaluating the knowledge and attitudes of nurses toward pain management. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of Vietnamese nurses and identify factors associated with pain management. METHODS: This study used a descriptive and cross-sectional design and was conducted at a national hospital in Vietnam from May to June 2021. Nurses working in all clinical units were surveyed to collect demographic data and assessed using the structured Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (KASRP) scale. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with knowledge and attitudes. RESULTS: Two hundred seventy-nine nurses completed the survey, including 152 (54.5%) who read books or journals about pain, 25 (9.0%) who reported the use of unit-based pain guidelines, and 77 (27.6%) who used a numeric rating tool. The mean number of correct answers on the KASRP was 23.34 (mean KASRP correct percentage of 54.9%), and only 16 nurses (5.7%) had passing scores. Having a bachelor's degree or higher, reading books or journals about pain, using a numeric rating tool, and using unit-based pain guidelines were significantly associated with higher KASRP scores (P < .01) among nurses. CONCLUSIONS: The knowledge and attitudes of nurses regarding pain management were far from satisfactory. Regular pain management training, access to pain-related reading materials, and the frequent use of a numeric tool to assess pain intensity are recommended to enhance the quality of care for patients provided by clinical nurses.

Older Patient Satisfaction with Chronic Pain Management in the National Geriatric Hospital in Vietnam

PURPOSE

The high prevalence of chronic pain and difficulties in pain management in older people are challenging for healthcare providers globally. Patient satisfaction regarding pain management is one of the measures to assess efficacy of pain control as well as healthcare services. Thus, our study aimed to evaluate the older patients' satisfaction with pain management and its associated factors in Vietnam.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted at National Geriatric Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam from May to October 2018. Face-to-face interviews were conducted on 495 older patients with chronic pain by using a structured questionnaire. The Pain Treatment Satisfaction Scale (PTSS) was used to assess the level of satisfaction with pain management. A Tobit regression model was used to estimate factors associated with satisfaction toward pain management.

RESULTS

The mean total satisfaction score was 1.77 (SD= 0.22). Older patients were most satisfied with the aspect of side effects of pain relief medication (mean=0.66, SD=0.56). On the contrary, they were most dissatisfied with information provided about pain and its treatment and efficacy of pain relief medication. Outpatients were less satisfied with information provided, the impact of current medication and pain management in general compared to inpatients. The regression model showed that patients with severe pain tended to be more dissatisfied with pain management than those with no pain.

CONCLUSION

This study indicated that the general satisfaction with chronic pain management in older patients was quite good especially in the aspect of pain medication's side effects. However, dissatisfactory factors remained, including information provided about pain and efficacy of current pain medication. Intensive training regarding pain in geriatric care, health education communication for older people, and improved quality of medical services should be performed to ensure the quality of pain management, especially in the older population.