Long-term effectiveness of a patient and family pain education program on overcoming barriers to management of cancer pain.
The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of a patient and family pain education program on reducing cancer patients' and their families' barriers to (i.e., concerns or misconceptions about) cancer pain management, on increasing patients' adherence to a prescribed analgesic regimen, and on decreasing pain intensity and pain interference with daily life. An experimental and longitudinal design was used. The experimental group consisted of 31 pairs of cancer outpatients and their family carers, while the control group consisted of 30 patient-family pairs (N=122). Patients and their family carers in the experimental group simultaneously received a pain management education program. Both groups had pretest data collection and after-test follow-ups on the second and fourth weeks at the outpatient clinics. Comparisons between those two groups were made using the Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) method. Results revealed that at both the second and fourth weeks, patients and family carers in the experimental group showed a significantly greater reduction in barrier scores than did patients and family carers in the control group. At the second and fourth weeks, patients in the experimental group reported significantly better adherence to a scheduled analgesic regimen than did patients in the control group. In the fourth week, patients in the experimental group reported significantly lower levels of worst pain intensity and pain interference than did patients in the control group. This research provides evidence of the effectiveness of a patient and family pain education program.
Graduate Institute of Nursing, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan Shu-Zen College of Medicine and Management, Kaohsiung, Taiwan Bureau of Health Promotion, Department of Health, Taiwan Department of Mathematics, Tamkang University, Taiwan Hospice and Pallative Care Center, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taiwan Center of General Education, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan School of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan.
Chia-Chin
CC
Lin
Pi-Ling
PL
Chou
Shang-Liang
SL
Wu
Yue-Cune
YC
Chang
Yuen-Liang
YL
Lai
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017028:Caregivers / Q000193:education*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors
D000700:Analgesics