Assessing healthcare professionals' perceptions of pain concepts and beliefs

BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals deliver pain education, yet their perception of pain experiences is not well understood, which can affect their interactions with patients in pain. OBJECTIVE: This study explored Korean healthcare professionals' perceptions of the usefulness of assessing pain concepts and beliefs and the importance of domains identified in the pain literature. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study employed an online survey administered to nurses, physical therapists, and physicians, including the Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire, Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, and related optional open-ended questions. RESULTS: Most participants acknowledged the importance and usefulness of assessing understanding of pain concepts but anticipated patients' difficulty comprehending items assessing biological mechanisms underlying pain. Participants questioned the items' accuracy, indicating their limited pain knowledge and the necessity of reducing literacy demands. The critical domains of pain education were learning about pain, external factors influencing pain, and pain as a form of protection. CONCLUSION: Participants had suboptimal pain knowledge but emphasized decreasing literacy demands of pain neurophysiology items. Additionally, it is necessary to develop and implement a pain education program to improve pain-related knowledge and provide educational content for healthcare professionals encountering patients in pain.