Perception of Pain, Attitude and Satisfaction of Pain Management among Postoperative Patients

Introduction: Pain is considered as a fifth vital sign. Pain management and patients satisfaction with the treatment decreases early postoperative recovery. Aim: The study aim was to assess the satisfaction of pain management among postoperative patients. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was used to conduct a study among 180 postoperative patients’ undergone surgeries (General surgery patients, ortho-paedic surgery and urological surgery patients) at selected hospitals, Puducherry. The purpose of the study was to associate the pain level with satisfaction. The patients were selected based on purposive sampling technique. After obtaining consent, the researcher used numerical pain scale to assess the pain perception of the patient, closed ended questionnaire to assess attitude level and modified short assessment questionnaire for patient satisfaction towards pain management. The study was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) software version 20.0. The descriptive statistics was used to assess the level of pain and attitude and inferential statistics like Pearson correlation coefficient were carried out to find the correlation between pain and satisfaction. Results: Severe pain was felt by nearly all (70%) among general surgery patients, 60% in orthopaedic surgery patients and 50% had moderate pain in urological surgery patients respectively. Regarding attitude, majority (78%, 88% and 83%) of the patients had positive attitude towards pain management in General surgery, Orthopaedic and Urology surgery patients. Most (74%) of them were satisfied with their pain management in general surgery patients, whereas in orthopaedic and urological patients, nearly all 90%, 96% of the clients were very satisfied towards pain management. Conclusion: The study concluded, optimal satisfaction toward pain management will increase quality of early postoperative recovery.