The Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) is suitable in postoperative settings, yet, the implementation has shown varying results. This has raised issues about the pain scales contribution to the identifying and understanding of pain. The aim of this thesis was to describe the clinical utility of patients’ self-rated postoperative pain after major surgery from a healthcare professional perspective. The aim of study I and II was to describe healthcare professionals’ perceptions of the use of pain scales, and to through considering critical incidents describe care experiences and actions taken by healthcare professionals’ when assessing pain. Participants in study I (N=25) and II (N=24) were enrolled- registered nurses and physicians with clinical experiences of pain scales. The aims of study III and IV were to determine the clinical applicability of NRS mode- and maximum- measures, and the NRS mode- and median measures at rest and during activity based on patients self-rated pain. The aim in study IV was additionally to determine the number of NRS ratings needed for the calculation of these measures. The number of surgical and orthopedic patients who completed study III were: n=157 and study IV: n=479. Study I and II confirmed earlier findings of patients’ self-reported pain scores as a facilitator in the understanding of their postoperative pain. Organizational routines, documentation devices, clinical competence, continuity in care, collaborative actions, time, and individual routines were healthcare related factors affecting the use of pain scales (I, II). Patient-related facilitating factors were patients’ ability and willingness to communicate pain, while disability and unwillingness to communicate or inconsistency in verbal communication with observed behaviors were barriers (II). Time and multidimensional communication approaches could bridge these barriers (I, II). Study III and IV showed acceptable reliability for the mode, median and maximum measures. Rank correlations for individual median scores, based on four ratings, versus patients’ retrospective self-rated average pain, were moderate and strengthened with increased numbers of ratings. The Svensson method showed an individual variation within the expected outcome and a significant systematic group change towards a higher level of reported retrospective pain. The calculated pain measures, particularly concerning pain at rest, generally were lower than patients’ recall of pain. The findings described beneficial effects of patient self-reported pain, however present healthcare did not fully support the utilization of pain scales. Because of the simple measurement characteristics, the use of daily NRS average pain measures, patients’ pain can be followed until resolved. The measures could additionally become important patient reported outcome measures and thus constitute new motivators to increase the utilization of pain scales.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

A vacinação ocupa um papel de destaque na prevenção de doenças e proteção da saúde, tanto no âmbito individual quanto coletivo. Contudo sua realização impõe uma série de condições desagradáveis, principalmente às crianças pequenas. Dentre os vários aspectos críticos que compõem os momentos de vacinação, destaca-se a dor provocada pela aplicação da vacina, por suas implicações para as crianças e seus familiares. Dado que o foco do atendimento nas Salas de Vacina está colocado, principalmente, sobre a vacina (preparação, aplicação, conservação, entre outros), outros aspectos críticos da vacinação das crianças não estão contemplados durante os atendimentos. Visando contribuir para a qualidade da assistência nas Salas de Vacina, este estudo busca levantar na literatura científica elementos que facilitem aos profissionais envolvidos no atendimento e na organização das Salas de Vacina, o reconhecimento da dor pela qual passam as crianças durante sua vacinação, através de instrumentos de avaliação. Para tal foi feita uma revisão da literatura, buscando instrumentos de avaliação de dor em crianças menores de dois anos. A busca foi estruturada a partir do acrônimo PICO em dez diferentes bases. Os descritores foram adaptados para atender às especificidades das mesmas e foi utilizado o Endnoteweb® para sistematização e compartilhamento das informações. Foram identificados 295 estudos entre 1993 e 2010 cujos resumos foram analisados e, aplicando-se os critérios de exclusão chegou-se a um conjunto de 24 artigos que foram lidos na íntegra. Tendo em vista a finalidade chegou-se a uma amostra final de 12 artigos que apresentavam 8 escalas. Constatou-se que as escalas mais adequadas para avaliação das crianças durante a vacinação são: MBPS, CHIPPS, NIPS e ABC. Estas escalas utilizam os parâmetros consagrados na literatura, em composições e especificações diferentes. / Vaccination has an important role to prevent diseases and protect health, both for individuals and for collectives. However its implementation requires a series of unpleasant conditions, especially to small children. Among several critical aspects that are present at the time of vaccination, there is the pain caused by the adistration of vaccine, because of its implications for children and their families. Since the focus of attention in the rooms vaccine is placed primarily on the vaccine (preparation, implementation, maintenance, etc.), other critical aspects of vaccination of children are not covered during the sessions. To contribute to the quality of care in rooms vaccine, this study raises some elements in the scientific literature to facilitate the professionals involved in care and organization of rooms vaccine, the recognition of pain that children may have during their vaccination, through assessment instruments. It was developed a review of the literature, searching for tools to evaluate pain in children under two years. The search was structured from the acronym PICO in ten different bases. The descriptors were adapted to meet the specific needs of these and Endnoteweb© was used to systematize and share information. Were identified 295 studies between 1993 and 2010 whose abstracts were reviewed and, applying the exclusion criteria was reached at a sample of 24 articles that were read in full. Given the goal was reached a final sample of 12 articles that presented eight scales. It was found that the most appropriate scale for assessing children for vaccination are: MBPS, CHIPPS, NIPS and ABC using the parameters established in the literature with compositions and different specifications.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

A vacinação ocupa um papel de destaque na prevenção de doenças e proteção da saúde, tanto no âmbito individual quanto coletivo. Contudo sua realização impõe uma série de condições desagradáveis, principalmente às crianças pequenas. Dentre os vários aspectos críticos que compõem os momentos de vacinação, destaca-se a dor provocada pela aplicação da vacina, por suas implicações para as crianças e seus familiares. Dado que o foco do atendimento nas Salas de Vacina está colocado, principalmente, sobre a vacina (preparação, aplicação, conservação, entre outros), outros aspectos críticos da vacinação das crianças não estão contemplados durante os atendimentos. Visando contribuir para a qualidade da assistência nas Salas de Vacina, este estudo busca levantar na literatura científica elementos que facilitem aos profissionais envolvidos no atendimento e na organização das Salas de Vacina, o reconhecimento da dor pela qual passam as crianças durante sua vacinação, através de instrumentos de avaliação. Para tal foi feita uma revisão da literatura, buscando instrumentos de avaliação de dor em crianças menores de dois anos. A busca foi estruturada a partir do acrônimo PICO em dez diferentes bases. Os descritores foram adaptados para atender às especificidades das mesmas e foi utilizado o Endnoteweb® para sistematização e compartilhamento das informações. Foram identificados 295 estudos entre 1993 e 2010 cujos resumos foram analisados e, aplicando-se os critérios de exclusão chegou-se a um conjunto de 24 artigos que foram lidos na íntegra. Tendo em vista a finalidade chegou-se a uma amostra final de 12 artigos que apresentavam 8 escalas. Constatou-se que as escalas mais adequadas para avaliação das crianças durante a vacinação são: MBPS, CHIPPS, NIPS e ABC. Estas escalas utilizam os parâmetros consagrados na literatura, em composições e especificações diferentes. / Vaccination has an important role to prevent diseases and protect health, both for individuals and for collectives. However its implementation requires a series of unpleasant conditions, especially to small children. Among several critical aspects that are present at the time of vaccination, there is the pain caused by the adistration of vaccine, because of its implications for children and their families. Since the focus of attention in the rooms vaccine is placed primarily on the vaccine (preparation, implementation, maintenance, etc.), other critical aspects of vaccination of children are not covered during the sessions. To contribute to the quality of care in rooms vaccine, this study raises some elements in the scientific literature to facilitate the professionals involved in care and organization of rooms vaccine, the recognition of pain that children may have during their vaccination, through assessment instruments. It was developed a review of the literature, searching for tools to evaluate pain in children under two years. The search was structured from the acronym PICO in ten different bases. The descriptors were adapted to meet the specific needs of these and Endnoteweb© was used to systematize and share information. Were identified 295 studies between 1993 and 2010 whose abstracts were reviewed and, applying the exclusion criteria was reached at a sample of 24 articles that were read in full. Given the goal was reached a final sample of 12 articles that presented eight scales. It was found that the most appropriate scale for assessing children for vaccination are: MBPS, CHIPPS, NIPS and ABC using the parameters established in the literature with compositions and different specifications.

Syfte: Denna studie syftar till att undersöka vilken behandlingsmetod, plasticitetsgrundad eller icke-invasiv neuromodulering som presenterar bäst resultat av smärtlindring hos personer som upplever fantomsmärtor efter en amputation. Metod: Litteraturundersökningen utfördes i 3 databaser; MEDLINE, CINAHL och PsycINFO. Inkluderingskriterier användes för urval av studier. Bedömning av studiernas risk för bias gjordes med hjälp av mallar från Joanna Briggs Institut. Relevant data kopplad till frågeställningen extraherades och analyserades. Resultat: Totalt åtta artiklar inkluderades, där två presenterade resultat från icke-invasiv neuromodulering och sex studier inkluderade plasticitetsgrundade metoder. Smärtskalor mellan 0-10 användes för att mäta förändringen av smärtan. Den kritiska bedömningen drog slutsatsen att det saknades studier av hög kvalitet som inkluderar kontrollgrupper. Bevisen som analyserats i den aktuella studien indikerar att plasticitetsgrundade metoder tycks ge bättre smärtreduktion jämfört med icke-invasiv neuromodulering. Slutsats: Baserat på resultaten kan inte denna studie presentera bevis starka nog för att avgöra vilken grupp av metoder som har bäst smärtlindrande effekt. Brist av högkvalitativa studier inom området, i kombination med heterogenitet mellan inkluderade studier resulterar i att ingen slutsats kan dras. / Aim: This study aims to determine which treatment method, plasticity guided or non-invasive neuromodulation, presents the best result in reducing pain for amputees experiencing phantom limb pain. Method: Literature search was performed in 3 databases; MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO. Eligibility criteria were used for study selection. Critical appraisal tool by Joanna Briggs institute was used to assess the included articles’ risk of bias. Data relevant to the research question were extracted and analyzed. Result: A total of eight articles were included, where two presented results from non-invasive neuromodulation and six studies included plasticity guided methods. Pain scales ranging from 0-10 were applied as outcome measures to monitor improvements in phantom limb pain. The critical appraisal concluded lack of high-quality study designs including control groups. The evidence analysed in the present study indicate that plasticity guided methods appear to provide the best pain reduction when compared to non-invasive neuromodulation. Conclusion: Based on the results, this study does not present evidence strong enough to state which methods present the best pain reduction. Due to low amount of research within the field, combined with heterogeneity between included studies, no conclusion can be made.

<p><strong>Background: </strong>Total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is considered the treatment of choice to alleviate pain and improve function of patients with osteoarthritis. However,recent evidence suggests that a significant proportion of patients continue to report pain, or worsening of their symptoms well after their joint replacement. We call this chronic pain “<em>phantom joint pain</em>” as it persists despite the fact hat the affected joint has been replaced.</p> <p>Chronic pain of neuropathic origin may be a consequence of surgery or in patients with osteoarthritis (OA); there may be a combination of nociceptive and neuropathic pain (NP) mechanisms. As there are no definitive physiological indicators for NP or gold standards for diagnosis, Guidelines on Neuropathic Pain Assessment advocate the use of screening tools to evaluate the patient’s pain experiences and potentially characterize various pain features.</p> <p>Despite suggestions that phantom joint pain post TJA is a common problem there is limited information about its prevalence among Canadians. To date there are no studies that have characterized neuropathic vs. non- neuropathic chronic pain features in a TJA population.</p> <p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The purpose of this work was to determine the<em> </em>prevalence of chronic pain following total hip (THA) or knee (TKA) arthroplasty, and to identify the proportion of the cohort with chronic pain whose symptoms suggested the pain was of neuropathic origin. In addition we evaluated the ability of the NP Subscale of the McGill pain questionnaire [NP-MPQ (SF-2)] to identify individuals with NP vs. Non NP in the TJA population.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> A retrospective cohort study (2-4 years post joint replacement) of 148 participants with primary unilateral TJAidentified from a large joint arthroplasty database (n=1143). Chronic pain was defined as post surgical pain reported 6-12 months following surgery to be 3 or higher (out of 5) on the Oxford Hip/Knee Scores, and that pain was the same or worse than reported preoperatively. A postal survey was used to administer the NP-MPQ (SF-2)and the Self-Administered Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Signs and Symptoms (S–LANSS) (1.5-3.5 years post TJA). S-LANSS was the “non reference standard” for classification of neuropathic pain. Human research ethics approvals from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and McMaster University/Hamilton Health Sciences were obtained prior to the study.</p> <p><strong>Results</strong>: The response rate to the postal survey to identify those with chronic pain of neuropathic origin was 53%. Thirteen percent of individuals experienced chronic pain; among individuals with chronic pain, neuropathic subtype was found in 28% (S-LANSS ≥ 12) - 43% [NP-MPQ (SF-2) ≥ 0.91]. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis for NP-MPQ (SF-2) yielded an area under the curve of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.82, 0.97). A cut off score of 0.91 NP-MPQ (SF-2),<strong> </strong>maximized sensitivity (89.5%) and specificity (75.0%). Our results revealed moderate correlation (r=0.56; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.68) between the S-LANSS and NP-MPQ (SF-2)scores in patients with NP post TJA.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Based on our results, a considerable percentage of individuals (13%) experience chronic pain following TKA and THA. Moreover, among individuals with chronic pain symptoms, a significant proportion (28-43%) of those experience pain that appears to have a neuropathic component, even 1.5 to 3.5 years following surgery.Overall prevalence of NP in TJA was 3.3 to 4.5%. The NP-MPQ (SF-2)subscale demonstrated “good” discriminatory ability, thus it might be useful in identifying patients with NP following TJA. Moderate association exists between the scales and this could affect prevalence rates in studies; or diagnosis of NP of individual patients based on the criterion used.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)