Assessment of Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Patient-Controlled Analgesia

March 3, 2026 updated by: Kutahya Health Sciences University

Evaluation of Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Patient-Controlled Analgesia Before and After a Structured Educational Intervention

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is a widely used method for postoperative pain management that allows patients to self-administer analgesics according to their pain needs. The safe and effective use of PCA depends largely on the knowledge and awareness of healthcare professionals. Insufficient knowledge may lead to improper use of PCA devices and increase the risk of complications affecting patient safety.

The aim of this study will be to evaluate healthcare professionals' knowledge and attitudes regarding patient-controlled analgesia and to assess the effect of a structured educational intervention on these outcomes. This interventional, pre-post comparative study will be conducted among healthcare professionals working in surgical clinics, operating rooms, and intensive care units at a tertiary care hospital.

Participants will complete a structured questionnaire assessing demographic characteristics, PCA-related knowledge, and attitudes before receiving a standardized educational program on patient-controlled analgesia. The same questionnaire will be administered again one week after the education. Changes in knowledge and attitude scores before and after the educational intervention will be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is an important component of postoperative pain management that allows patients to self-administer analgesic medications within predetermined safety limits. The effectiveness and safety of PCA depend not only on appropriate device programming and pharmacological selection but also on the knowledge, awareness, and clinical practices of healthcare professionals responsible for patient education, monitoring, and device management.

This study will be designed as a semi-experimental, interventional, pre-post comparative study to evaluate healthcare professionals' knowledge and attitudes regarding patient-controlled analgesia and to assess the impact of a structured educational intervention on these outcomes. The study will be conducted among healthcare professionals working in surgical wards, operating rooms, and intensive care units of a tertiary care hospital.

Eligible participants will include physicians, nurses, anesthesia technicians, and midwives aged 18 years and older who are actively involved in perioperative patient care. Healthcare professionals who decline participation, do not complete the questionnaires, or are not working in the specified clinical units will be excluded from the study.

Before the educational intervention, participants will complete a structured questionnaire consisting of three sections. The first section will collect demographic and professional information, including age, sex, profession, years of clinical experience, department of employment, and previous experience with PCA-treated patients. The second section will assess knowledge related to patient-controlled analgesia using 32 true/false items covering PCA principles, routes of administration, device characteristics, opioid analgesics, contraindications, complications, device management, and patient monitoring. The third section will evaluate attitudes toward PCA using 28 statements rated on a four-point Likert scale ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree."

Following baseline assessment, a standardized educational program on patient-controlled analgesia will be delivered to all participants. The educational content will include theoretical and practical information on PCA principles, safe device use, opioid pharmacology, complication recognition, and patient follow-up. One week after completion of the educational intervention, the same questionnaire will be re-administered under identical conditions.

Changes in knowledge and attitude scores before and after the educational intervention will be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods to determine the effect of education on healthcare professionals' understanding and perceptions of patient-controlled analgesia. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to improved patient safety and quality of postoperative pain management by highlighting the importance of structured educational programs for healthcare professionals involved in PCA practices.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

242

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, anesthesia technicians, and midwives) working in surgical wards, operating rooms, or intensive care units.
  • Aged 18 years or older.
  • Actively involved in perioperative patient care.
  • Willing to participate in the study and provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Healthcare professionals who decline to participate.
  • Incomplete or missing questionnaire responses.
  • Healthcare professionals not working in the specified clinical units.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Pre-Education Assessment Group
Healthcare professionals who complete the study questionnaire before receiving the standardized patient-controlled analgesia educational program.
Behavioral: Patient-Controlled Analgesia Educational Program
A standardized educational program on patient-controlled analgesia delivered to healthcare professionals. The program includes theoretical and practical content covering PCA principles, safe device use, opioid pharmacology, potential complications, patient monitoring, and follow-up. The education is provided through structured sessions and aims to improve participants' knowledge and attitudes regarding PCA.
Other: Post-Education Assessment Group
Healthcare professionals who complete the study questionnaire approximately one week after receiving the standardized patient-controlled analgesia educational program.
Behavioral: Patient-Controlled Analgesia Educational Program
A standardized educational program on patient-controlled analgesia delivered to healthcare professionals. The program includes theoretical and practical content covering PCA principles, safe device use, opioid pharmacology, potential complications, patient monitoring, and follow-up. The education is provided through structured sessions and aims to improve participants' knowledge and attitudes regarding PCA.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Knowledge Score on Patient-Controlled Analgesia
Time Frame: From baseline (pre-education) to 1 week after the educational intervention
The primary outcome is the change in healthcare professionals' knowledge regarding patient-controlled analgesia, assessed using a structured questionnaire consisting of true/false items administered before and after the educational intervention.
From baseline (pre-education) to 1 week after the educational intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Kutahya Health Sciences University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 23, 2026

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 23, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

February 23, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 14, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 14, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

January 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2025/04-07

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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