[Opinions and attitudes of clinical staff on systems for the assessment and treatment of children's pain]

Abstract

Introduction: Many factors affect the assessment and treatment of pain, among them being the knowledge and attitudes of clinical staff. The goal of this work was to determine the opinions and attitudes of clinical staff from two hospitals on the different aspects of the assessment and treatment of children's pain.

Method: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire issued to clinical staff. The questionnaire was given to the professionals, doctors, and nursing staff of the paediatric services of two hospitals, and to an incidental sample of paediatric doctors.

Results: Of the 146 questionnaires sent out, 105 were completed. Participants indicated that standardised scales and physiological recordings were the least frequently used methods to assess children's pain. Participants considered that pharmacological techniques for the treatment of pain were used more frequently than non-pharmacological techniques, at all ages. Participants acknowledged being significantly more knowledgeable about pharmacological methods to relieve paediatric pain than about non-pharmacological methods.

Conclusions: There is margin for improvement in systems for the assessment and treatment of children's pain as regards the more frequent and standardised use of techniques and standardised tools for the assessment of pain, and the greater administration of non-pharmacological strategies for its treatment.

Keywords: Actitudes del personal sanitario; Attitude of health personnel; Conocimiento, Actitudes y práctica en salud; Health knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Hospitales pediátricos; Hospitals, Pediatric; Medida del dolor; Pain management; Pain measurement; Tratamiento del dolor.