Premium
Pain underreporting associated with profound intellectual disability in emergency departments
Author(s) -
AmorSalamanca A.,
Menchon J. M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of intellectual disability research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1365-2788
pISSN - 0964-2633
DOI - 10.1111/jir.12355
Subject(s) - attendance , medicine , emergency department , intellectual disability , complaint , medical diagnosis , family medicine , psychiatry , pathology , political science , law , economics , economic growth
Background Little information is available regarding the visits made by persons with profound intellectual disability (PID) to general hospital emergency departments (ED). This study aims to know whether persons with PID who attend ED are given the same type of diagnoses as people with no such disability. Methods Over a period of 18 months, we gathered data from all non‐scheduled visits to an ED by persons with PID to identify the reason for consultation (according to the classification used by the Spanish Society for Emergency Nursing) and the final diagnosis upon discharge. The results were compared with data obtained from a control group of people with no ID who attended an ED for any reason during the same period. Results Somatic complaints were the main reason for ED attendance among persons with PID (90% of consultations). These complaints were more often related to the central nervous system than was the case among non‐ID patients (16 vs. 4.7%), whereas other kinds of non‐central nervous system somatic complaint were less common among persons with PID (74 vs. 91%). A diagnosis implying physical pain was given less often to people with PID than to controls (3 vs. 20%). Conclusions The results suggest that persons with PID are less able to conceptualise and communicate information about their symptoms, especially as regards pain, and that this influences the diagnosis they are given when attending an ED. Professionals working in this environment need to be aware of this possibility so as not to underestimate or overlook such symptoms and the illnesses related to them.