Definition of Terms

The following definitions were developed by the author to maintain uniformity of

understanding of the terms used.

Age. This refers to the patients current age in years at the time of the study is

conducted. The patients have to specify his/her age in years.

Sex. Refers to whether the patients are 1 male or 2 female.

Marital status. This refers to the patients civil status in relation to the marriage

laws or customs of the country. This will be measured as 1 single, 2 married, and 3

others, which patients have to specify.

Highest educational attainment. Refers to the patients highest level of

schooling that he/she has reached. This will be measured categorically by 1 -

elementary level, 2 - high school level, 3 -college level, 4 -others, which patients have to

specify.

Religion. This refers to the patients religious affiliation. This will be measured by

1 as Catholics or 2 as non-Catholics.

Type of operation. This refers to the nature of the operation whether 1 minor

or 2 major.

Type of anesthesia used. This is the anesthetic agent used in the operation or

surgery of the patient. This will be measured as 1 - spinal/epidural/regional/local, 2

general, or 3 both.

Length of surgery. Refers to the length of the operation in hours.

Date of operation. This refers to the date of the operation to calculate how many

post-operative days the patients are.

 Level of post-operative pain threshold. This refers to the patients where 0 is

no pain, 5 is moderate pain, and 10 is worst pain to current level of pain at the time of

the conduct of the study. This will be measured in a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 is no pain,

5 is moderate pain, and 10 is worst pain.

Frequency of assessment of patients post-operative pain. This refers to how

many times pain is assessed by the nurses. This will be measured by 1 - every 30

minutes, 2 - every hour, 3 - every 2 hours, 4 - every 4 hours, 5 - once every shift, or 6 -

whenever they like.

Non-pharmacologic therapies. This refers to different modalities or therapies

that is not pharmacologic in nature. The patients have to specify the most effective one

that they have been using in managing their post-operative pain.

Patients level of satisfaction with the non-pharmacologic therapies. This

refers to the patients level of contentment with the most-effective non-pharmacologic

therapy they have used to manage their post-operative pain. This will be measured by 1

- not satisfied, 2 - slightly satisfied, 3 - moderately satisfied, or 4 - highly satisfied

Biliran Provincial Hospital. This is the area of the study. A small rural public

hospital in the Province of Biliran.