Comparison of Methods for Recording Post Operative Pain: A Prospective Randomized Trial
University of California, San Francisco
Summary
The purpose of the current study is to identify the optimal method of collection of pain intensity data. The study will compare three collection methods: a hand-written pain journal, a smartphone app, and a novel electronic pain recorder device. Patients will be randomly assigned to one of three methods and instructed to record their pain level as often as they like. The number of pain intensity recordings per day will then be compared across groups.
Description
Pain is a universal experience and at the forefront of all things medicine; however, the way medical professionals deal with it lacks coherence. Clinicians often ask their patients how their pain is, but seldom document it with enough information to be useful. The purpose of this study is to determine how we can collect the most self-reported pain intensity data. The investigators will collect this data with time and date-stamped Visual Analogue Scale-a pain rating scale from 0-10-scores for each patient in the study, randomized to one of three groups (pen \& paper, app, and pain recorder devi…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * Patient over 18 years old Exclusion Criteria: * Patient cannot use a smartphone * Patient cannot use his hands to write or press a button * Patient has a nerve catheter (has no pain) * Altered mental status * Neuropathy causing loss of pain sensation
Interventions
- DeviceGiven novel electronic pain recording device
Patients in this arm will be given a custom-built pain recording device to see if the method of self-reported data collection has any effect on how many data points are collected.
- OtherGiven Hand-written pain journal
Patients in this arm will be given a hand-written pain journal to see if the method of self-reported data collection has any effect on how many data points are collected.
- OtherSmartphone app
Patients in this arm will be given a research smartphone with survey app to see if the method of self-reported data collection has any effect on how many data points are collected.
Location
- Zuckerberg San Francisco General HospitalSan Francisco, California