[Prevalence of pain in the hospital: results from a survey among inpatients in a teaching hospital].

Introduction: The aim of the study was to conduct a cross sectional study on pain among inpatients and outpatients in a large teaching hospital.

Methods: The study was carried out at the Policlinico "Umberto I", Rome, in October 2009, using a questionnaire developed by Gigi Ghirotti Foundation. The pain intensity was graded mild (VAS scale 1-3), moderate (VAS 4-6) and severe (7-10).

Results: The participants were 825 patients (response rate 75.8%), aged over or equal 18 years, 435 females (median age 54, range 18-95) and 390 males (median age 60, range 19-89). 420 patients (50.9%) declared to feel pain during the hospitalization, and among them 84.3% received adequate therapy. 23.3% of responders presented a pain score over 8, with patients admitted to internal medicine wards with highest score (p = 0.037). The pain control (score ³ 6) was obtained in 71.4% patients. Pain and severe pain perception was higher among females (55.6% and 36.1% vs 45.6% and 29.2%, respectively) (p = 0.004 and p = 0.036). The multivariate analysis showed that the following variables are positively associated to the dependent variable "how much pain do you feel in this moment?": female gender (p < 0.001), length of stay (p = 0.081), admission in medical wards (p = 0.028), being admitted in ordinary way (p = 0.004), while if the patients filled in the questionnaire was inversely associated (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The application of the guidelines on free pain hospital is increasing, however we must consider that almost one fifth of the patients who suffered pain within the hospital did not receive any treatment for that.