Introduction:

The existence of chronic pain often affects mobility and cognitive ability with an impact on the person's quality of life. In this context, ozone therapy has the potential to alleviate pain and increase well-being, with the need to produce evidence that promotes safe nursing care.

Objective:

Analyse the evidence of the clinical use of ozone therapy for pain relief and quality of life.

Methods:

The exploratory, descriptive study with a transversal and retrospective focus included 31 people undergoing ozone therapy, mostly female (61.3%) with a mean age of 54 years (±16.0). As a data collection instrument, the VAS scale was used to measure the level of pain and the EQ-5D questionnaire to assess the level of self-perceived quality of life. The study received a favourable opinion from the Ethics Committee of the Instituto Politécnico de Viseu (IPV) (No. 15/SUB/2021) on March 25, 2021, and authorization for the collection of data from the director of the health institution.

Results:

The temporal evolution of pain (onset, 1st month, 2nd month and 3rd month) reveals a gradual reduction in pain levels. Obtaining quality of life profiles with no problems after a period of treatment with ozone therapy was 29% (n=9). Age is a variable with a significant impact on pain levels, with older participants being more affected by higher levels of pain in all phases of the study. The presence of comorbidities has an impact on quality of life in the domain of personal care and usual activities. Age also influences the obtainment of problem-free quality of life profiles, with these profiles being less frequent in older ages. Gender is not a variable that influences pain or quality of life.

Conclusion:

Ozone therapy reduces pain levels, however, given the low sample size, it is necessary to replicate the study in larger samples and with diversified nosological entities to validate the added value of this therapeutic intervention.

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