Is satisfaction with pain management a valid and reliable quality indicator for use in nursing homes?
OBJECTIVES: To determine whether satisfaction with pain management can be measured reliably in nursing homes and to gather preliminary data about the validity of satisfaction assessments in this population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional interview study. SETTING: Two urban nursing homes. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-six nursing home residents with pain. MEASUREMENTS: Overall satisfaction with pain management, satisfaction with pain medication, experiences related to pain management, cognitive function, depressive symptoms, and retest reliability of overall satisfaction rating. RESULTS: Most residents (60/66; 91%) could rate their overall satisfaction with pain management. Overall satisfaction was weakly correlated with pain severity at the time of the interview (Spearman correlation coefficient = -0.28; P =.033) and over the past week (-0.27; P =.038). Overall satisfaction was also negatively associated with the Geriatric Depression Scale score (-0.50; P <.001). Satisfaction with pain medication was a
