Pain Assessment Tool for First Stage of Labor: Systematic Review

Abstract

This article presents a systematic review of pain assessment for the first stage of labor. The review process entailed two steps; the process step and product step. The process step used Google as a database and retrieved entries on March 20, 2020. The search phase used was “the tool for assessment pain in first stage of labor”. Product step, consisting of search retrievals, yielded 19 titles published between 2003 - 2018. Four were academic articles, 14 were research studies, and one was a case study. Additionally, one book was included. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) levels of evidence were used to determine if a document was appropriate for inclusion. The 14 studies fell in level 2, while the 4 articles, a case study and the book were in level 4. The sections of this article include the meaning, causes, theory of pain, and the first stage of labor. This labor stage has two phases: the latent and the active phase. The tools were two dimensions. The most frequent tool used for pain assessment research is the unidimensional tool called the Numerical Rating Scale. It was adapted by Pornnirn Udomthornsuk. The other tool, the Wong Baker Face Scale, was used more often in the active phase of labor. Pain assessment in the first stage of labor is essential for nurses. It helps nurses assess pain and implement procedures for pain reduction. It may annoy pregnant women in pain to answer the question of how strong their pain is, and nurses should be aware of this. Furthermore, after systematic review, the tools discussed in existing quantitative research showed a lack of development specifically for Thai people. In addition, there is a lack of qualitative research on pain assessment.