ArticleMedicine2026
Psychological experiences of unplanned interruption of patient-controlled intravenous analgesia in adult postoperative patients: A qualitative study.
Article in Medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
This qualitative study aimed to explore the psychological experiences of adult postoperative patients who unplanned discontinued patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA), based on the stress and coping theory and the Activating event, Beliefs, Consequences emotion theory. The findings are intended to provide insights for developing individualized analgesia management and psychological interventions in clinical practice. Employing a purposive sampling strategy, adult patients who experienced unplanned PCIA interruption within 3 days after surgery at a tertiary hospital in Nanchong were recruited. Twenty participants were interviewed. Following 3 pilot interviews, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 participants until data saturation was reached; 4 additional interviews were then performed to reinforce the findings. Interview data were analyzed using Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological method. Two main themes emerged: negative psychological experiences and sleep disturbances. The negative psychological experiences encompassed concerns about increased pain, adverse drug reactions, financial burden, and anxiety regarding the exacerbation of preexisting conditions. Scale-assisted assessments (Visual Analog Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, and Insomnia Severity Index) indicated mild to moderate levels of pain, anxiety, and insomnia among some participants. This study is the first to systematically analyze the psychological mechanisms behind unplanned PCIA interruption using a dual-theoretical framework. Negative psychological experiences and sleep disturbances significantly contribute to patients' decisions to discontinue PCIA prematurely. Clinical staff should prioritize dynamic assessment of patients' psychological and sleep status. Implementing multidimensional intervention strategies - including optimized physiological analgesia, targeted cognitive education, and behavioral support - is crucial to reduce unplanned PCIA interruption, improve analgesia quality, and enhance postoperative recovery outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.