The PRO-SELF® Pain Control Program Improves Patients' Knowledge of Cancer Pain Management

Abstract

The use of a structured paper-and-pencil questionnaire, such as the PES, as part of a psychoeducational intervention provides an effective foundation for patient education in cancer pain management. Oncology nurses can use patients' responses to this type of questionnaire to individualize the teaching and to spend more time on the identified knowledge deficits. This individualized approach to education about pain management may save staff time and improve patient outcomes.

Cancer Pain: Knowledge and Experiences from the Perspective of the Patient and their Family Caregivers

“…It also emerges that patients and caregivers have a medium level of knowledge (patient: 4.653.44, family caregiver: 4.813.97) regarding the efficacy of nonpharmacological treatment in relieving the pain. Contrary to our research results, it was ascertained in the other studies that patients" knowledge in the area of "nonpharmacological treatment" is of a high level (37,38,39).…”

The use of a responder analysis to identify differences in patient outcomes following a self-care intervention to improve cancer pain management

“…While statistically and clinically significant reductions in pain intensity scores, significant improvements in patients' knowledge about pain management, and significant improvements in the number of appropriate analgesic prescriptions did occur as a result of the intervention (Schumacher et al 2002a;Schumacher et al 2002b;Kim et al 2004;Miaskowski et al 2004), initial analyses of the overall effectiveness of the intervention in improving mood and QOL and decreasing levels of pain interference with function failed to demonstrate significant differences between the intervention and the standard care groups on the majority of the outcome measures. Possible explanations for the lack of an overall treatment effect on these important clinical outcomes could include the fact that the instruments chosen to measure these outcomes were not sensitive enough to detect treatment effects; that it was unrealistic to expect that a unidimensional psychoeducational intervention targeted at pain would have effects on mood or QOL; that decreases in pain intensity were associated with increases in analgesic side effects which may have dampened improvements in QOL; and/or that these outcome measures may change more slowly than measures of pain intensity and therefore could not be detected during this brief, six week study.…”

“…In 2004, we published the results of a RCT that demonstrated the effectiveness of a psychoeducational intervention called the PRO-SELF© Pain Control Program compared with standard care to decrease pain intensity scores and improve analgesic prescriptions in oncology outpatients with pain from bone metastasis (Schumacher et al 2002b;West et al 2003;Kim et al 2004;Miaskowski et al 2004). To date, this is the only intervention study that has resulted in both statistically and clinically significant reductions in pain intensity scores, statistically significant improvements in the number of appropriate analgesic prescriptions (i.e., more prescriptions of around-the-clock with as needed opioids), and statistically significant increases in patients' knowledge regarding pain management.…”

Non-Pharmacological Therapies in Pain Management

“…Although there is an increase of knowledge and developments in technological resources regarding the pain, many patients still experience pain (Nash et al 1999). This situation causes for reduction in living quality and functional situation of the patients, increase in the fatigue levels (Kim et al 2004) and impairments in daily life activities in working capacity and social interactions (McMillan et al, 2000;Allard et al, 2001). Also this situation will cause loss of workforce and will affect not only the patients but also his/her family members in economical terms thus causing undesired problems in psychological and social well being status (Uçan and Ovayolu 2007).…”