Patient-related barriers to management of cancer pain in Puerto Rico.
Two hundred and sixty-three ambulatory patients older than 21 years of age who were attending clinics at an oncology hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, were studied. They completed a questionnaire (BQ-PR) that measures 8 concerns about reporting pain and using analgesics, such as fears of addiction and tolerance and the belief that reporting pain can distract a physician from focusing on curing one's disease. Ninety percent of the patients had at least some concern about each of the 8 topics, and mean scores on the 8 subscales were near the midpoint on a 0-5 scale. There were significant inverse relationships between level of education, income, and BQ-PR total score. Those persons who experienced cancer-related pain on the day they completed the questionnaire were categorized as using adequate versus not adequate analgesic medication, a determination that was based on a comparison of their level of pain to the medication they were using. Those who were not using adequate analgesic medication had higher BQ-PR total scores than did those who were using adequate medication.
Ward
Sandra E
SE
University of Wisconsin at Madison, School of Nursing, Comprehensive Cancer Center and Pain Research Group, Madison, WI 53792 USA University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, School of Pharmacy, San JuanPuerto Rico.
Hernandez
Lesbia
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000700:Analgesics / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003469:Culture; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011647:Puerto Rico; D012067:Religion; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000700:Analgesics