Challenges of Self-Reporting Pain in Postoperative Patients and the Need for a Multifaceted Assessment

Darvishpour, Azar

Volume 10, Issue 1 (3-2025) cjhaa 2025, 10(1): 0-0 | Back to browse issues page

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Darvishpour A. Challenges of Self-Reporting Pain in Postoperative Patients and the Need for a Multifaceted Assessment. cjhaa 2025; 10 (1) : 1
URL: http://cjhaa.mubabol.ac.ir/article-1-234-en.html

Challenges of Self-Reporting Pain in Postoperative Patients and the Need for a Multifaceted Assessment

Azar Darvishpour ^*

Guilan University of Medical Sciences

Abstract: (197 Views)

Postoperative pain is one of the biggest challenges in clinical care. Despite the widespread use of numerical pain scales, patients, especially the elderly or those with low health literacy, often do not have an accurate understanding of these scales and report higher pain intensity than is actually present. Psychological factors such as anxiety and fear, previous experiences, cultural backgrounds, and individual differences in pain thresholds also contribute to this exaggeration. This can lead to over-prescription of narcotics and increased treatment costs. Therefore, it seems inappropriate and sometimes misleading to rely solely on the patient's numerical pain score, especially after surgery. Nurses should take a multidimensional approach including patient education, the use of complementary tools, psychological screening and functional assessment to more accurately measure pain intensity.

Article number: 1

Keywords: Pain, Patient, Surgery, Assessment

Full-Text [PDF 876 kb] (53 Downloads)

Type of Study: Applicable | Subject: Special
Received: 2025/04/25 | Accepted: 2025/05/18 | Published: 2025/05/18