Partner-guided cancer pain management at the end of life: a preliminary study.
This preliminary study tested the efficacy of a partner-guided cancer pain management protocol for patients who are at the end of life. Seventy-eight advanced cancer patients meeting criteria for hospice eligibility and their partners were randomly assigned to a partner-guided pain management training intervention, or usual care control condition. The partner-guided pain management training protocol was a three-session intervention conducted in patients' homes that integrated educational information about cancer pain with systematic training of patients and partners in cognitive and behavioral pain coping skills. Data analyses revealed that the partner-guided pain management protocol produced significant increases in partners' ratings of their self-efficacy for helping the patient control pain and self-efficacy for controlling other symptoms. Partners receiving this training also showed a trend to report improvements in their levels of caregiver strain. Overall, the results of this preliminary study suggest that a partner-guided pain management protocol may have benefits in the context of cancer pain at the end of life. Given the significance of pain at the end of life, future research in this area appears warranted.
Keefe
Francis J
FJ
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
Ahles
Tim A
TA
Sutton
Linda
L
Dalton
JoAnn
J
Baucom
Don
D
Pope
Mary Susan
MS
Knowles
Verena
V
McKinstry
Elizabeth
E
Furstenberg
Charlotte
C
Syrjala
Karen
K
Waters
Sandra J
SJ
McKee
Daphne
D
McBride
Colleen
C
Rumble
Meredith
M
Scipio
Cindy
C
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D059408:Pain Management; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D018454:Spouses / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods*