Background. Since data on pain evaluation and management in patients admitted to internal medicine wards (IMWs) are limited,we\r\naimed to evaluate these aspects in a cohort of internistic patients. Methods.We considered all patients consecutively admitted from\r\nJune to December 2011 to our unit. Age, gender, and length-of-hospital-stay (LOS) were recorded. Comorbidities were arbitrarily\r\ndefined, and pain severity was evaluated by Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) on admission and discharge. Results. The final sample\r\nconsisted of 526 patients (mean age 74�±14 years; 308 women). Significant pain (NRS = 3) was detected in 63% of cases, and severe\r\n(NRS = 7) in 7.6%. Pain was successfully treated, and NRS decreased from 4.65 �± 2.05 to 0.89 �± 1.3 (P < 0.001). Compared with\r\nsubjects with NRS < 3, those with significant pain were older (75.5 �± 13.9 versus 72.9 �± 14.5 years,P = 0.038), and had a higher LOS\r\n(7.9 �± 6.1 versus 7.3 �± 6.8, P = 0.048). Significant pain was independently associated with age (OR 0.984, P = 0.018), cancer (OR\r\n3.347,P < 0.001), musculoskeletal disease (OR 3.054, P < 0.0001), biliary disease (OR 3.100,P < 0.01), and bowel disease (OR\r\n3.100, P< 0.003). Conclusion. In an internal medicine setting, multiple diseases represent significant cause of pain. Prompt pain\r\nevaluation and management should be performed as soon as possible, in order to avoid patientsâ�� suffering and reduce the need of\r\nhospital stay.
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