SOCRATES (pain assessment)
{{short description|Mnemonic acronym for pain evaluation}}
SOCRATES is a mnemonic acronym used by emergency medical services, physicians, nurses, and other health professionals to evaluate the nature of pain that a patient is experiencing.
Uses
SOCRATES is used to gain an insight into the patient's condition, and to allow the health care provider to develop a plan for dealing with it.{{Cite journal|last1=Clayton|first1=Holly A.|last2=Reschak|first2=Gary L. C.|last3=Gaynor|first3=Sandra E.|last4=Creamer|first4=Julie L.|date=December 2000|title=A novel program to assess and manage pain|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/46bb9ac56bf80bac2dc895b8cd307e57/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=30764|journal=Medsurg Nursing|language=English|volume=9|issue=6|pages=318–312|pmid=11904868 |id={{ProQuest| }}}}{{Cite journal|last=Swift|first=Amelia|date=1 October 2015|title=The importance of assessing pain in adults.|url=https://europepmc.org/article/med/26647478|journal=Nursing Times|language=English|volume=111|issue=41|pages=12–17|pmid=26647478|via=Europe PMC}} It can be useful for differentiating between nociceptive pain and neuropathic pain.{{Cite journal|last1=Schofield|first1=Marcia|last2=Shetty|first2=Ashish|last3=Spencer|first3=Michael|last4=Munglani|first4=Rajesh|date=May 2014|title=Pain {{sic|Manag|ment|nolink=y}}: Part 1|url=https://www.bjfm.co.uk/pain-managment-part-1|journal=British Journal of Family Medicine|language=English|volume=2|issue=3|pages=}}
Adverse effects
SOCRATES only focuses on the physical effects of pain, and ignores the social and emotional effects of pain.{{Cite journal|last=Gregory|first=Julie|date=2019-08-31|title=Use of pain scales and observational pain assessment tools in hospital settings|url=https://journals.rcni.com/doi/10.7748/ns.2019.e11308|journal=Nursing Standard|language=en|volume=34|issue=9|pages=70–74|doi=10.7748/ns.2019.e11308|pmid=31468952 |s2cid=201675367 |issn=0029-6570|url-access=subscription}}
Procedure
| class="wikitable"
!Letter !Aspect !Example Questions |
| S
|Site |Where is the pain? Or the maximal site of the pain. |
| O
|Onset |When did the pain start, and was it sudden or gradual? Include also whether it is progressive or regressive. |
| C
|Character |What is the pain like? An ache? Stabbing? |
| R
|Does the pain radiate anywhere? |
| A
|Associations |Any other signs or symptoms associated with the pain? |
| T
|Time course |Does the pain follow any pattern? |
| E
|Exacerbating / relieving factors |Does anything change the pain? |
| S
|Severity |How bad is the pain? |
History
SOCRATES is often poorly used by health care providers.{{Cite journal|last1=Manna|first1=Aditya|last2=Sarkar|first2=S. K.|last3=Khanra|first3=L. K.|date=2015-04-01|title=PA1 An internal audit into the adequacy of pain assessment in a hospice setting|url=https://spcare.bmj.com/content/5/Suppl_1/A19.3|journal=BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care|language=en|volume=5|issue=Suppl 1|pages=A19–A20|doi=10.1136/bmjspcare-2015-000906.61|issn=2045-435X|pmid=25960483|s2cid=206923364 |url-access=subscription}} Although pain assessments usually cover many or most of the aspects, they rarely included all 8 aspects.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Medical mnemonics}}
{{Pain}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socrates (Pain Assessment)}}