Women's perspectives of pain following day surgery in Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence of pain following discharge from reproductive day surgery.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional descriptive study.

SETTING: A public hospital for women in Melbourne.

SUBJECTS: 315 women participated in phone interviews and 10 in face-to-face interviews.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Self-reports of pain were assessed in relation to age, English and non-English speaking background, prior experience of day surgery, type of surgery, time in recovery, information provision prior to surgery, and access to significant others at home.

RESULTS: Older women were less likely to report having pain immediately following discharge (regression coefficient = -0.72, 95% CI, 0.58 to 0.88, p < or = 0.01), or within 48 hours following discharge (regression coefficient = - 0.71, 95% CI, 0.57 to 0.88, p < or = 0.05). Women with a prior experience of day surgery were 1.9 times more likely to be in pain within 48 hours following surgery (regression co-efficient 1.88, 95% CI, 1.134 to 3.10, p < or = 0.05). Women who understood information were less likely to report that they experienced pain within 48 hours of discharge (regression co-efficient -0.74, 95% CI, 0.24 - 0.95, p < or = 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Younger patients, those who have had prior experience of day surgery and those who received inadequate information prior to surgery were most likely to report pain. Adequate individual patient assessment will ensure that patients' experience of pain following day surgery is minimised.