CANCER-RELATED PAIN: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL APPROACH.
Contributors: University Of Illinois At Chicago, Health Sciences Center.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 201
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: A descriptive study of cancer-related pain was conducted in 40 patients with and 40 without pain. Data on demographic, clinical, and psychosocial/physical variables were collected in both groups; data on descriptions of pain, factors associated with its occurrence, and coping strategies were obtained from pain patients.

Pain patients had moderate pain that was continuous for 43%, intermittent for 45%, and had no consistent daily pattern in intensity. Pain was aggravated by physical activity and ameliorated by inactivity. Forty percent viewed pain as an indicator of disease status. All patients used narcotic analgesics, and one or more of six cognitive and two behavioral strategies to cope with pain. Psychosocial effects of pain included interference with ambition/desires to engage in activities and relationships with others, and mild depression. Patients who were black, older, and had better physical status experienced less pain and depression, while patients with higher educational levels experienced more. Physical problems included fatigue and interference with ambulation, work, sleep, and appetite. Pain-free patients had fewer, less severe, and more transient psychosocial and physical problems than pain patients, including a lack of clinical depression.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-03, Section: B, page: 0705.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO, HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, 1987.

School code: 0806.