Chronic pain and general self-perceived health in a Paraguayan reference hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Pain is the main reason for consultation in Primary Health Care. Chronic pain is one of the biggest challenges that the doctor finds in the outpatient clinic. Objective: To relate the self-perception of the intensity level in the presence of chronic pain with the self-assessment of their own general health in patients who went to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service of the Central Hospital of the Institute of Social Welfare in 2018. Methodology: The design of the study was transversal. A questionnaire with closed questions was given to the study participants, where data such as age, sex, origin and basic pathology were collected. Besides this, the Walco & Howite Scale and the Verbal Scale of Self-perception of health was included. Results: 62 patients participated, with a median age of 65 years, 85.48% were women, and 80.65% came from urban areas. 87.10% were carriers of arthropathies and 67.74% were hypertensive. 56.45% of patients presented intermittent pain, located more frequently in lower limbs and upper limbs, of severe intensity in 35.48% of cases. Regarding the self-assessment of health, 46.77% considered it regular and 41.93% considered it good. There is a statistically significant relationship between the intensity of chronic pain self-perception and the self-assessment of general health (p = 0.007). Conclusion: The majority of patients who perceived mild and moderate pain considered to be in good health, while the majority of patients who perceived severe and maximum pain imaginable reported being in a regular state of health.