1. Nationwide study of headache pain in Italy shows that pain assessment is still inadequate in paediatric emergency care
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Benini, Franca, Piga, Simone, Zangardi, Tiziana, Messi, Gianni, Tomasello, Caterina, Pirozzi, Nicola, Cuttini, Marina, ocerino, A, Crichiutti, G, Barbi, E, Biban, P, Ghizzi, C, Benedetti, M, rrighini, A, Podestà, A F, Scalfaro, C, Stringhi, C, Rotta, S, Salvo, I R Di, Fossali, E, rbino, A, Taglietto, M, Marciano, C, Piccotti, E, Manfredini, L, Mannelli, F, Messeri, A, Cardoni, G, Piattellini, G M, Midulla, F, Chiaretti, A, Campa, A, Borrometi, F, Maremonti, P, Grandolfo, Rita, Fucà, F, and Parrino, R
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Male ,Emergency Medical Services ,Pediatrics ,hospitals pediatric ,0302 clinical medicine ,Pain assessment ,Emergency medical services ,Medicine ,hospital ,Child ,hospitals general ,Pain Measurement ,Headache ,Regular Article ,quality indicators ,General Medicine ,Hospitals, Pediatric ,health care ,Italy ,Child, Preschool ,Practice Guidelines as Topic ,Female ,Emergency care ,Guideline Adherence ,Emergency Service, Hospital ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Adolescent ,Pain ,Hospitals, General ,Disease cluster ,preschool ,03 medical and health sciences ,030225 pediatrics ,child ,emergency care ,headache ,pain assessment ,pain management ,adolescent ,emergency medical services ,emergency service, hospital ,female ,guideline adherence ,humans ,male ,pain measurement ,pediatrics ,practice guidelines as topic ,retrospective studies ,triage ,perinatology and child health ,Humans ,Online Only Articles ,Quality Indicators, Health Care ,Retrospective Studies ,emergency service ,business.industry ,Retrospective cohort study ,Odds ratio ,Emergency department ,Triage ,Pain management ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Emergency medicine ,Observational study ,business ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Regular Articles - Abstract
Aim Italian national guidelines on pain management were published in 2010, but there is little information on how effective pain management is in paediatric emergency care, with other countries reporting poor levels. Using headache as an indicator, we described pain assessment in Italian emergency departments and identified predictors of algometric scale use. Methods All Italian paediatric and maternal and child hospitals participated, plus four general hospitals. Data on all children aged 4–14 years admitted during a one-month period with headache as their chief complaint were abstracted from clinical records. Multivariable analyses identified predictors of algometric assessment, taking into account the cluster study design. Results We studied 470 admissions. During triage, pain was assessed using a standardised scale (41.5%), informally (15.5%) or was not recorded (42.9%). Only 32.1% of the children received analgesia in the emergency department. The odds ratios for predictors of algometric assessment were non-Italian nationality (3.6), prehospital medication (1.8), admission to a research hospital (7.3) and a more favourable nurses-to-admissions ratio of 10.8 for the highest versus lowest tertile. Conclusion Despite national guidelines, paediatric pain assessment in Italian emergency care was suboptimal. Hospital variables appeared to be stronger predictors of adequate assessment than patient characteristics.
- Published
- 2016
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