Pain beliefs and pain management of oncology patients

Cancer pain is estimated to occur in 30% to 70% of patients with early-stage cancer and 60% to 95% with advanced cancer. Current research shows that cancer pain continues to be undertreated despite the availability of analgesics and established guidelines to maximize their effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to describe oncology patients' pain experience during an episode of hospitalization with particular emphasis on exploring the relationship between oncology patients' beliefs about pain and the treatment they received. Consecutive patients (n = 126) were interviewed 48 hours after admission to an urban and a regional hospital in Australia; 47.6% of patients had experienced moderate to severe pain in the previous 24 hours but had only received 40.4% of available analgesic. Patients held varying beliefs about pain and pain treatments in particular, 41% held strong beliefs about the potential for addiction to narcotics. Patients who held this belief reported higher current pain, worst pain intensity, and higher average pain intensity in the previous 24 hours. Effective pain management in the inpatient oncology setting continues to be an important clinical issue, and patients do not receive all available pain treatment. There may be an important association between patients' beliefs about pain and pain management and the pain management they receive.