Patients' knowledge of and attitudes toward the management of cancer pain.

PURPOSE/
OBJECTIVES: To examine patients' knowledge of and attitudes toward the management of cancer pain and to identify, from the patients' perspectives, factors contributing to effective and ineffective pain relief.
DESIGN: Descriptive, correlational.
SETTING: Ambulatory care oncology facility in Canada. SAMPLE: Convenience sample of 42 patients receiving oral pain medication for chronic cancer-related pain.
METHODS: Participants completed a modified version of the Patient Pain Questionnaire and a demographic questionnaire and responded to two open-ended questions. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES: Patients' knowledge of and attitudes toward cancer pain management and their perceptions of factors contributing to effective and ineffective pain relief.
FINDINGS: Many patients locked knowledge of the principles involved in effective cancer pain management and had unrealistic concerns about taking pain medications. Significant negative relationships were found between pain intensity ratings and factors such as patients' knowledge of pain management, their level of satisfaction with pain relief, and their perception of the goal of pain management. Patients identified a number of impediments to effective pain relief, including concerns about addiction and various side effects to pain medications.
CONCLUSIONS: Many patients have inadequate knowledge about the management of cancers pain and have unrealistic concerns about taking pain medications, both of which have been identified in the literature as barriers to effective cancer pain management. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: A need exists for patient education that addresses patients' misconceptions and concerns about using pain medications and the principles involved in effective cancer pain management.