Applying the American Pain Society's QA standards to evaluate the quality of pain management among surgical, oncology, and hospice inpatients in Taiwan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was two-fold: first, to apply the American Pain Society (APS) outcome questionnaire to examine and compare the quality of pain management provided in surgical, oncology, and hospice inpatient units in the Taipei area of Taiwan, and second, to provide baseline data of pain management quality in advance of the implementation of national guidelines for cancer pain management. Data revealed that hospice patients had significantly lower levels of pain severity and higher satisfaction with pain management than did oncology or surgical patients. A majority of patients reported that they received pain medication within 15 min after they complained of pain. However, a large number of patients never asked for pain medication during hospitalization. Moreover, most of the patients never requested medication changes even when their perception was that their medication were not effective. The findings of this study may provide support for the effectiveness of hospices in Taiwan in pain management and provide important information on the validity of the APS quality standards.