Effects of brief pain education on hospitalized cancer patients with moderate to severe pain

The purpose of this randomized controlled study was to assess the effects of a structured pain education program on the pain experience of hospitalized cancer patients. Eligible cancer pain patients were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (receiving pain education 10–15 min per day for 5 days, n=15) or a standard care control group (n=15). The effects of the intervention on six pain-related variables were evaluated using three instruments. Pain intensity, pain interference with daily life, negative beliefs about opioids, beliefs about endurance of pain, pain catastrophizing (an individual’s tendency to focus on and exaggerate the threat value of painful stimuli and negatively evaluate his or her own ability to deal with pain), and sense of control over pain were evaluated by the Brief Pain Inventory—Short Form Taiwanese version (BPI-T), Pain and Opioid Analgesic Beliefs Scale—Cancer (POABS-CA), and the Catastrophizing subscale and the sense of control over pain measure from the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ). The results indicated that, after completing treatment, patients who had received structured pain education had significantly less pain intensity on average, negative pain beliefs regarding opioids, pain endurance beliefs, and pain catastrophizing than patients in the control group. In addition, patients in the pain education group showed a significant increase in their sense of control over pain. These preliminary results strongly suggest that structured pain education can effectively improve the pain experience of hospitalized cancer patients and should be further implemented clinically.