SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Measuring Differences in Pain Assessment Across Racial and Ethnic Groups, Gender, and Limited English Proficiency (Lep) Status

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This study examined whether inpatient pain assessments differ by race/ethnicity, gender, and limited English proficiency (LEP) status among adults hospitalized on a general medicine service at an 800-bed urban teaching hospital from January 2013 to September 2021.<br /><br />Researchers reviewed over 1.8 million pain assessments documented by nursing staff and categorized them into self-report tools, such as Numeric Rating, Verbal Descriptor, and FACES scales, and behavioral tools, such as CNPI and other nonverbal assessment methods. They then used logistic regression to compare the likelihood of receiving different types of self-report pain assessments across patient groups.<br /><br />Overall, numeric pain ratings were the most common assessment type. However, substantial differences were seen across groups. Patients with LEP were much less likely to receive numeric rating assessments and more likely to receive verbal or alternative tools. Asian patients and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander patients were also less likely than White patients to obtain numeric pain assessments. American Indian or Alaska Native patients were more likely to receive numeric scales, while several other groups showed lower odds compared with White patients. Gender differences were smaller, though nonbinary and unknown gender categories appeared to have different patterns of assessment use.<br /><br />The findings suggest that pain documentation in the inpatient setting is not uniform and may reflect disparities related to language and race/ethnicity. The authors conclude that further work is needed to understand what drives these differences, to examine specific diagnoses and patient subgroups, and to link pain assessments with medication administration to better evaluate pain treatment quality and equity.

Asset Subtitle

Hamedullah Noorulhuda

Meta Tag

Author List Aksharananda Rambachan, Hamedullah Noorulhuda, Priya A. Prasad

Category Research

Concept Pain Documentation

Concept Pain Assessment

Concept Verbal Numeric Scale

Concept Limited English Proficiency

Concept Health Disparities

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Ucsf

Presenting Author Hamedullah Noorulhuda

Track Quality Improvement

Keywords

inpatient pain assessment

race and ethnicity disparities

limited English proficiency

numeric rating scale

self-report pain tools

behavioral pain assessment

hospitalized adults

nursing documentation

pain equity

general medicine service

Pain Documentation

Pain Assessment

Verbal Numeric Scale

Limited English Proficiency

Health Disparities