The utility and uptake of pain management interventions across intensive care settings is inconsistent. A rapid realist review was conducted to synthesise the evidence for the purpose of theory building and refinement.
A five-step iterative process was employed to develop project scope/ research questions, collate evidence, appraise literature, synthesise evidence and interpret information from data sources.
Realist synthesis method was employed to systematically review literature for developing a programme theory.
Initial searches were undertaken in three electronic databases: MEDLINE, CINHAL and OVID. The review was supplemented with key articles from bibliographic search of identified articles. The first 200 hits from Google Scholar were screened.
Three action-oriented themes emerged as integral to successful implementation of pain management interventions. These included health facility actions, unit/team leader actions and individual nurses' actions.
Pain assessment interventions are influenced by a constellation of factors which trigger mechanisms yielding effective implementation outcomes.
The results have implications on policy makers, health organisations, nursing teams and nurses concerned with optimising the successful implementation of pain management interventions.
The review enabled formation of a programme theory concerned with explaining how to effectively implement pain management interventions in intensive care.
This review was informed by RAMESES publication standards for realist synthesis.
No patient or public contribution.
The study protocol was registered in Open Science Framework.
Mental distress, non-specific symptoms of depression and anxiety, is common in chronic pelvic pain (CPP). It contributes to poor recovery. Women's health nurses operate in multidisciplinary teams to facilitate the assessment and treatment of CPP. However, valid cut-off points for identifying highly distressed patients are lacking, entailing a gap in CPP management.
This instrumental cross-sectional study identified a statistically derived cut-off score for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-8 (DASS-8) among 214 Australian women with CPP (mean age = 33.3, SD = 12.4, range = 13–71 years).
Receiver operator characteristic curve, decision trees and K-means clustering techniques were used to examine the predictive capacity of the DASS-8 for psychiatric comorbidity, pain severity, any medication intake, analgesic intake and sexual abuse. The study is prepared according to the STROBE checklist.
Cut-off points resulting from the analysis were ordered ascendingly. The median (13.0) was chosen as an optimal cut-off score for predicting key outcomes. Women with DASS-8 scores below 15.5 had higher analgesic intake.
CPP women with a DASS-8 score above 13.0 express greater pain severity, psychiatric comorbidity and polypharmacy. Thus, they may be a specific target for nursing interventions dedicated to alleviating pain through the management of associated co-morbidities.
At a cut-off point of 13.0, the DASS-8 may be a practical instrument for recommending a thorough clinician-based examination for psychiatric comorbidity to facilitate adequate CPP management. It may be useful for evaluating patients' response to nursing pain management efforts. Replications of the study in different populations/countries are warranted.