The Journal of Emergency Medicine
Volume 32, Issue 1 , Pages 19-22, January 2007

Changes in heart rate do not correlate with changes in pain intensity in emergency department patients

  • Philip Bossart, MD

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint Address: Philip Bossart, md, Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, 1150 Moran Building, 175 North Medical Drive East, SLC, UT 84132
    • ,
  • Dave Fosnocht, MD
    • ,
  • Eric Swanson, MD

Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Utah Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah

Received 10 May 2004; received in revised form 18 October 2005; accepted 31 May 2006.

Abstract 

The objective of this study was to determine the correlation, if any, between change in heart rate (HR) and change in pain in Emergency Department (ED) patients. This was a prospective, observational study of a convenience sample of patients presenting to an academic ED with pain. Heart rate and pain intensity (using a 100-mm visual analog scale) were determined at time of triage, 30 min post pain treatment, and at discharge. The correlation between change in HR and change in pain was determined using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Nine hundred seventy-five patients were enrolled in the study. The Pearson rho for 1143 correlations between change in HR and change in pain was 0.08 (95% CI 0.03–0.13). This study suggests that there is a poor correlation between change in pain intensity and change in heart rate among ED patients with acute pain.

Keywords: Pain measurement, heart rate, emergency department, analgesics, pain scales

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PII: S0736-4679(06)00630-5

doi:10.1016/j.jemermed.2006.05.029

The Journal of Emergency Medicine
Volume 32, Issue 1 , Pages 19-22, January 2007

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