Pain underreporting associated with profound intellectual disability in emergency departments.
J Intellect Disabil Res
; 61(4): 341-347, 2017 04.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28054733
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Little information is available regarding the visits made by persons with profound intellectual disability (PID) to general hospital emergency departments (ED). This study aims to know whether persons with PID who attend ED are given the same type of diagnoses as people with no such disability.METHODS:
Over a period of 18 months, we gathered data from all non-scheduled visits to an ED by persons with PID to identify the reason for consultation (according to the classification used by the Spanish Society for Emergency Nursing) and the final diagnosis upon discharge. The results were compared with data obtained from a control group of people with no ID who attended an ED for any reason during the same period.RESULTS:
Somatic complaints were the main reason for ED attendance among persons with PID (90% of consultations). These complaints were more often related to the central nervous system than was the case among non-ID patients (16 vs. 4.7%), whereas other kinds of non-central nervous system somatic complaint were less common among persons with PID (74 vs. 91%). A diagnosis implying physical pain was given less often to people with PID than to controls (3 vs. 20%).CONCLUSIONS:
The results suggest that persons with PID are less able to conceptualise and communicate information about their symptoms, especially as regards pain, and that this influences the diagnosis they are given when attending an ED. Professionals working in this environment need to be aware of this possibility so as not to underestimate or overlook such symptoms and the illnesses related to them.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Dolor
/
Servicio de Urgencia en Hospital
/
Discapacidad Intelectual
Tipo de estudio:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Intellect Disabil Res
Asunto de la revista:
TRANSTORNOS MENTAIS
Año:
2017
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
España