ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:
Pain evaluation at emergency unit admission is vital for the establishment of strategies to manage it and minimize its costs. So, the objective of this study was to evaluate acute chest pain intensity in patients admitted to a cardiopulmonary emergency unit.
METHODS:
This is a quantitative study carried out in two moments with patients admitted to a chest pain unit of the city of Fortaleza, state of Ceará, in the period from March 2007 to February 2010. Initial sample was made up of 430 patients and, after exclusion, 213 have remained. Visual analog scale was applied in two moments and Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for analysis of scores, means and standard deviation.
RESULTS:
There were significant differences between both moments, with higher pain intensity scores in the first moment as compared to the second, at significance level of 5%. There has been no correlation between the presence of cardiac or pulmonary disease and pain intensity.
CONCLUSION:
Pain evaluation is a challenge for professionals working in emergency units and further studies looking for new evaluation methods are necessary.
Keywords:
Chest pain; Emergencies; Pain; Pain evaluation; Visual analog scale
