AB101. 20. Health needs assessment and chronic pain

Background: A Health Needs Assessment tool has been designed by a health needs process. This tool is a collaborative questionnaire and contains key health issues affected by pain. Patients prioritise their needs with this tool. Its use leads to improved patient outcomes. Its use has not been reported in the Irish patient population. The study aim was to investigate health needs as prioritised by patients attending an Irish chronic pain clinic for the first time.

Methods: The sample consisted of 100 randomly chosen adult patients (51 women and 49 men) with chronic pain attending a pain clinic.

Results: Average patient age was 55 years. Fifty-one percent were female. Patient led Health Needs Assessment for pain identified improvement in sleep (55%), pain relief (40%) and improved mobility (45%) as the most predominant needs.

Conclusions: Patient led Health Needs Assessment for pain identified improvement in sleep as their greatest health need. Improved mobility was reported as a greater health need than pain relief. Patient led Health Needs Assessment for pain Improves health functioning by it identifying changeable factors contributing to the person’s pain condition. It involves professionals working with individual to focus on acceptable, feasible changes.

Keywords: Health; needs; assessment