Authors

Eduardo Uhden Layron

Position

Doctor por la Facultad de Psicología de la Universidad de Sevilla. Dispositivo de Cuidados Críticos y Urgencias del Distrito de Atención Primaria Sevilla. Consejería de Salud Junta de Andalucía

Contact address

Eduardo Uhden Layron. C/ Severo Ochoa, 3. 41807 Espartinas (Sevilla).

Contact email: eduardo@uhden.es

Abstract

Objectives: to describe the sociodemographical characteristics of persons with chronic non-oncologic pain that visited the Primary Care Centre, as well as pain intensity and duration, its impact on daily life, the most important person with whom they share their suffering and how; all of this according to the condition causing the pain.
Method: a descriptive transversal study. Forty (40) patients were selected, from four diagnostic groups (fibromyalgia, lower back pain, headache, and osteoarticular pain) through convenience sampling. The tool for data collection was a self-administered ad hoc questionnaire.
Results: the sample included 77.5% women; from these, 92.5% were married, 72.5% claimed they had primary education, and 65% were housewives. 97-5% of the subjects reported suffering pain with daily frequency. Pain intensity was between 7.3 and 8.4 on a scale of 1 to 10. For all diagnostic groups, the most significant person for patients was their spouse (87.5%); 85% stated that said person “often tries to make me rest”, and 50% said that “often takes care of my chores/tasks”. 100% of subjects with lower back pain claimed that they never went to the cinema, while 80% of persons with headache stated that their pain interfered in their activity “visiting my friends”.
Conclusions: the profile of the patient with non-oncologic pain seen at Primary Care is a 55-year-old woman, with Primary Education, a housewife, and with daily pain during 24-hours-a-day for the past 10.5 years, with a 7.6 intensity on a scale of 1 to 10; her pain seriously interferes with her daily life and her social relationships, and she is accompanied by her husband in her pain process.

Keywords:

chronic pain; Fibromyalgia; lower back pain; osteoarticular; headache; research; descriptive study

Versión en Español

Título:

Características del paciente con dolor crónico no oncológico en Atención Primaria