Pain in intensive care unit patients—A longitudinal study

AIM: To assess occurrence of pain during the first 6 days of intensive care unit (ICU) stay and evaluate associations between occurrence of pain and selected patient‐related variables. DESIGN: A longitudinal study. METHODS: Adult ICU patients from three units were included. Patients' pain was assessed with valid pain assessment tools every 8 hr during their first 6 days in ICU. Possible associations between occurrence of pain and selected patient‐related variables were modelled using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: When pain was assessed regularly with pain assessment tools, 10% of patients were in pain at rest and 27% were in pain during turning. The proportions of patients who were in pain were significantly higher for patients able to self‐report pain, compared with patients not able to self‐report (p < .001). Several predictors were associated with being in pain. It is important to be aware of these predictors in order to improve pain management.