Determination of pain level in urethral catheterization application

This study was conducted to determine the level of pain experienced by patients undergoing urethral catheterization in the emergency department. The research is a descriptive retrospective study. The study was conducted with patients who applied to Amasya Sabuncuoğlu Şerefeddin Training and Research Hospital Emergency Department between 22.05.2024-30.06.2024 and underwent urethral catheterization. The sample size of the study consisted of patients who met the research criteria, accepted the research, and underwent urethral catheterization in the emergency department. Data were collected using the Data Collection Form and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) developed by the researcher. The results obtained from the research data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 22 Statistics (IBM SPSS, Turkey) software; descriptive statistics, mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage values, Independent Sample T Test, One-Way Analysis of Variance (Anova), and Kruskall Wallis Test and were considered statistically significant when p<0.05 was calculated. A total of 150 patients, 77 women and 73 men, participated in the study. The mean age of the patients was 69.99 years, the majority were married and graduated from primary school. The mean NRS during the procedure was 3.46, the patients had previous urethral catheterization experience, lubricant was generally used during the catheterization procedure, catheter number 16 was used most frequently, and the gel used during the procedure was mostly applied into the urethra. There was no significant difference between the variables of gender, marital status, previous urethral catheterization, use of lubricant gel, catheter size and gel application site and NRS (p>0.05). A significant difference was found between NRS and educational status (p<0.05).