Inadequate cancer pain management is a global problem. The problem is particularly worse in developing countries where the majority of patients present with advanced stages of the disease. Nurses play an important role in cancer pain management because they spend the majority of their time with patients. The purpose of the study was to examine role of unit cultures on cancer pain management practices among nurses in Kenya. A focused ethnography was used to explore cancer pain management practices of two different units (general and private) within the same institution. Data were collected for four months in a national referral hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants. A total of twenty five nurses and fourteen secondary participants (e.g., nurse managers) participated in this study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, and document reviews. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. The study findings show that the unit culture plays a role in cancer pain management practices. For instance, nurses on the oncology unit prioritize pain while nurses on the private unit prioritize overall patient satisfaction. Nurses in both units do not conduct a comprehensive pain assessment and they do not use validated pain assessment tools. Facilitators, such as availability of analgesics and palliative care training, were helpful in managing cancer pain especially in the oncology unit. Barriers such as, negative attitudes towards opioids and doubting patients’ report of pain continue to hinder adequate cancer pain management in the private unit. Other barriers including lack of pain management policies, assessment tools, and workload, influence cancer pain management practices negatively in both units. Understanding the role of unit culture in nursing cancer pain management practices has important implications for policy and practice. Findings in this study show a divergence of the prevailing training of nurses on pain management and practice. Findings could be used to develop pain management policies and protocols for nurses to use as a guide in cancer pain management. Also, nurse managers could use this findings to improve practice for instance, training in cancer pain management could be expanded to include nurses in the private unit. In terms of research, studies could be done to capture patients’ perspectives regarding cancer pain management, or implementation studies could be carried out to alleviate the barriers identified. Lastly, tailored strategies aimed at changing the culture in a unit to enhance change in practice are needed.

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Many common cancers have a predisposition for bone metastasis. Tumor occupation of bone is both destructive and a source of debilitating pain in cancer patients. As a result, cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP) is the single most common form of clinical cancer pain. Opioids remain the golden standard for the management of CIBP; however, >30% of cancer patients do not experience adequate pain relief with opioids. Furthermore, clinical reports have suggested that opioids can exacerbate bone loss and increase the likelihood of skeletal-related events. To date, there is no known direct mechanism for opioid-induced bone loss (OIBL). We hypothesized that opioid off-target activation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), an innate immune receptor that is expressed in bone, mediates an increase bone loss and associated CIBP. In the 66.1-BALB/cfC3H murine model of breast cancer bone metastasis, TLR4 expression is upregulated in tumor-burdened bone. Chronic morphine treatment exacerbated spontaneous and evoked pain behaviors in a manner paralleled by bone loss: we identified an increase in spontaneous fracture and osteolysis markers including serum collagen-type I (CTX) and intramedullary receptor activator of nuclear κ-B ligand (RANKL). Administration of (+)naloxone, a non-opioid TLR4 antagonist, attenuated both exacerbation of CIBP and morphine-induced osteolytic changes in vivo. Morphine did not alter tumor burden in vivo or tumor cell growth in vitro. Importantly, morphine produced the in vitro differentiation and activation of osteoclasts in a dose-dependent manner that was reversible with (+)naloxone, suggesting that morphine may contribute directly to osteolytic activation. To improve opioid management of CIBP, we then posited and evaluated three novel adjunct therapeutic targets: cannabinoid receptor-2, adenosine 3 receptor and sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 1. These pharmacological targets were identified as having a multiplicity of anti-cancer, osteoprotective and/or neuroprotective effects in addition to analgesic efficacy in chronic pain. Targets were tested in the 66.1-BALB/cfC3H model of CIBP and demonstrated to have stand-alone efficacy as antinociceptive agents. Taken together, this work provides a cautionary evaluation of opioid therapy in cancer-induced bone pain and seeks to mitigate opioid side effects through the identification of innovative adjunct therapies that can ultimately improve quality of life in patients suffering from cancer pain.

Aim of the Study The aim of this study was to determine if the nursing interventions of patient education and multidisciplinary coordination of care were able to improve pain control in the cancer patient in an acute hospital setting. Background of the Study The role of the nurse in cancer pain management has been defined as being that of an educator, coordinator of care and advocate. A nurse with adequate knowledge of pain and its application to the cancer population and functioning in the role as defined is believed to be able to overcome many of the barriers that exist in implementing adequate analgesia and improve pain management in cancer patients. Design of the Study A randomized experimental control group design was utilized. The study comprised 3 experimental groups and one control group incorporating pre and post testing. The Intervention of the Study Experimental group one: subjects received education regarding their pain management which was tailored to meet their specific needs. Experimental group two: subjects underwent a pain assessment and construction of a care plan which was communicated verbally to the treating medical and nursing team and followed up with a written report which was documented in the history and sent to the treating medical physician. Experimental group three: subjects received the combined interventions administered to groups one and two. Control group four: subjects were assessed and all information was record in the same manner as for the experimental groups. The control group received their usual care during the study and their pain scores were measured at the same time intervals as the three experimental groups. Instrumentation The Wisconsin Brief Pain Questionnaire was used for the assessment of all subjects. The McGill Pain Questionnaire was used as the outcome measure following intervention. Data Analysis A one-way analysis of variance was used to detect the differences between the intervention groups and the control group. T-Tests were used to detect the differences between the groups incorporating a Bonferroni adjustment for frequent T tests. Results The main effect demonstrated a significant difference between the treatment groups and control at a significance level of 0.002. T-Tests showed no significant difference between control and communication groups and no significant difference between education and combined groups. A significant difference was detected between education and control and between combined and control. Conclusions Nursing interventions of patient education, coordination of care and advocacy can significantly improve cancer pain management. Intervention was tailored to meet the specific patient needs based on findings from the assessment and was dependent upon an adequate knowledge base. The nursing intervention of education was the most powerful of the three intervention types and its success was in tailoring to each individual. However, it is believed that with further recognition of the role of the nurse as coordinator of care will lead to greater improvements in cancer pain management.

Despite the fact that as many as 80-90% of patients with cancer pain can be effectively treated using pharmacological therapies and other advanced approaches, 31% to 85% of cancer patients in Taiwan still experience varying levels of pain. Pain is one of the symptoms that patients fear most; it overwhelms all aspects of patients' lives and creates a sense of uncertainly and hopelessness. Pain control is, therefore, a high priority in the treatment of cancer patients. Pharmacological therapy is the cornerstone of cancer pain management. With the current trend toward outpatient care, many patients are being required to assume greater responsibility for self-management of prescribed analgesics at home to deal with the variable and complex nature of cancer pain and side effects of opioids. Patients however, have misconceptions regarding analgesics and a series of difficulties when attempting to put a pain management regimen into practice. This research addressed the hypothesis that self-efficacy beliefs might play an important role in analgesic adherence and pain experience in Taiwanese outpatients with cancer. The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to measure the self-efficacy expectations relating to opioid-taking in Taiwanese outpatients with cancer. Another purpose was to explore how opioid-taking self-efficacy and beliefs about opioid analgesics contribute to patients' analgesic adherence and pain experience in Taiwanese outpatients with cancer. In the first stage semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from a purposeful sample (n=10) of oncology outpatients from two teaching hospitals in the Taipei area of Taiwan. The purpose of this phase was to identify behaviours and situational impediments associated with analgesic taking. Findings from this phase were used to develop a scale to measure opioid-taking self-efficacy. In the second stage a pilot test with a convenience sample (n=30) was conducted to test the validity and reliability of the new scale and to identify the feasibility of using the scale in a cross-sectional survey. In the third stage a cross-sectional survey was undertaken (n=92) to describe pain experiences, analgesic adherence, beliefs about opioid analgesics, and opioid-taking self-efficacy in Taiwanese outpatients with cancer and to explore how opioid-taking self-efficacy and beliefs about opioid analgesics contributed to analgesic adherence and pain experience. Results of this study highlight an important issue - under-treatment of cancer pain in this group of Taiwanese outpatients. As well, low adherence rates to opioid analgesics in cancer outpatients arose as an important issue in this study. A range of misconceptions about using opioids for pain was also common amongst the sample. Despite these misconceptions, patients reported being moderately confident in their ability to perform self-management behaviours related to their prescribed opioid-taking. Results of this research supported the notion that patients' self-efficacy in relation to taking their prescribed opioid regimen was a significant independent predictor of patients' adherence behaviour and pain relief, but not of pain severity. Beliefs about opioid analgesics were also an independent predictor of patients' adherence, but not of pain relief or pain severity. In addition, findings from this study provided support for the validity and reliability of the opioid-taking self-efficacy scale. Results suggested there is a need for systematic assessment of beliefs affecting patients' opioid adherence behaviours for cancer pain control, including perceived personal self-efficacy and beliefs about opioid analgesics. Educational programs that focus on overcoming patients' misconceptions (beliefs) about taking opioid analgesics may be particularly beneficial. In addition, this study advocates that conducting self-efficacy-enhancing interventions may improve medication adherence for patients and therefore pain relief. More research is needed to demonstrate the construct validity of the self-efficacy scale and to evaluate self-efficacy enhancing interventions in cancer pain management.

Bakgrund: Cancersmärta är både akut och långvarig vilket påverkar de drabbade fysiskt, psykiskt och existentiellt. Som sjuksköterska är det av stor vikt att identifiera och värdera smärta med olika smärtskattningsinstrument. Syfte: Att undersöka cancerdrabbade patienters upplevelse av att skatta sin smärta med smärtskattningsinstrument. Metod: En litteraturstudie med utvalda artiklar från databaserna Pubmed, Cinahl och Scopus. Elva kvalitativa originalartiklar som uppfyllde inklusions- och exklusionskriterierna inkluderades. Resultat: Patienter upplevde att smärtskattningsskalor till största del var lätta att använda och förstå sig på, dock upplevde patienterna vissa skattningsinstrument som förvirrande. Flertalet patienter upplevde att det är lättare att beskriva sin smärta med egna ord istället för att använda en skala. Många upplevde även att de inte blev tagna på allvar av vårdpersonal vid smärtskattning. Slutsats: Cancersmärta är komplext och en individuell typ av smärta. Patienter upplevde olika smärtskattningsskalor på olika sätt. Ansvarig sjuksköterska bör ha möjligheten att erbjuda flera typer av skalor för att kunna behandla smärtan på ett adekvat sätt. / Background: Cancer pain causes both acute and long-term pain and affects patients both physically, psychologically and existentially. As a nurse it's important to identify and assess pain with different pain measurements. Aim: To examine how cancer patients experience pain using pain measurement tools.   Method: A literature study was used with articles from the databases Pubmed, Cinahl and Scopus. Eleven qualitative original articles who met the studies inclusion- and exclusion criteria were included. Results: Patients mostly experienced the pain measurement tools to be easy to use and understand. Some patients experienced the measurement tool as confusing and preferred to describe their pain with own words instead of using a scale. Many patients felt that they were not being taken seriously by the staff when they measure their pain. Conclusion: Cancer pain is a complex and individual type of pain. Patients experienced various pain measurement tools differently. Therefore the nurse in charge should have the ability to offer different types of measurement tools to be able to treat the pain adequately

Orientador: Maria Salete de Angelis Nascimento / Banca: Cristina Yoshie Toyoda / Banca: Guilherme Antonio Moreira de Barros / Resumo: Estudos têm relacionado o uso de atividades terapêuticas como uma técnica nãofarmacológica efetiva para o controle da dor oncológica e de outros sintomas decorrentes da doença, contribuindo de maneira significativa na melhora da qualidade de vida. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar os resultados de um programa de terapia ocupacional aplicado a pacientes oncológicos sob cuidados paliativos, no que se refere à modulação da dor, qualidade de vida e sintomas emocionais. Após a aprovação do comitê de ética e assinatura do termo de consentimento livre e esclarecido, foram incluídos 59 pacientes portadores de neoplasia avançada, em cuidados paliativos e que apresentavam dor E.V.A 5 cm (Escala Visual Analógica). Foram avaliados: dor (E.V.A, questionário de McGill e consumo de opióides), qualidade de vida (questionário SF-12) e sintomas de ansiedade e depressão (questionário HADS). Os pacientes foram aleatoriamente distribuídos, por sorteio de envelopes, em dois grupos e acompanhados diariamente por 10 dias consecutivos. O grupo intervenção realizou 30 minutos de atividades terapêuticas associado a orientações quanto ao desempenho das atividades de vida diária. O grupo controle recebeu somente orientações quanto atividades de vida diária. Os grupos foram demograficamente e clinicamente semelhantes em relação: sexo, cor, religião, escolaridade, estado civil, presença de cuidador, qualidade da dor, localização da dor e topografia do câncer. O grupo intervenção apresentou redução da dor (E.V.A e questionário de McGill) durante os dez dias de estudo. O grupo controle não apresentou diminuição satisfatória da dor. A média do consumo de morfina foi semelhante quando comparado os grupos (p>0,05). Entretanto, analisando cada grupo separadamente, no grupo controle observou-se maior consumo de morfina quando comparado ao grupo que realizou atividades... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Studies have connected the use of therapeutic activities as non-pharmacological practice effective for the control of cancer pain and other passing symptoms from the disease by helping to improve the quality of life in a significative way. The aim of this study was to create a program of occupational therapy as a helping technique in the modulation of the pain in cancer patients under palliative care. After the approval of the ethics committee and signature of the free and evident consent term, 59 patients who had advanced cancer in palliative care and had VAS 5 cm (Visual Analogue Scale) pain were included. Pain (VAS, McGill questionnaire and opioids consumption), quality of life (questionnaire SF-12) and anxiety and depression symptoms (questionnaire HADS) were evaluated. The patients were aleatorically distributed, by raffle envelopes, into two groups and accompanied daily for consecutive 10 days. The intervention group performed 30 minutes of therapeutic activities associated guidance on the performance of activities of daily life. The control group received only orientations of activities of daily life. The groups were similar demographically and clinically in relation to sex, race, religion, graduation, marital status, the presence of caregiver, quality of pain, localization of the pain and topography of cancer. The intervention group presented decreasing of the pain (VAS and McGill questionnaire) during ten days of the study. The control group did not present satisfactory reduction of pain. The average of morphine consumption was similar compared to the groups (p> 0.05). However, analyzing each group separately in the control group was observed a large consumption of morphine when compared to the group which accomplished therapeutic activities. The quality of life and anxiety and depression symptoms got better in relation to the first and the last day of the study... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

The primary focus of this thesis is to establish the clinical utility of corticosteroid injections mixed with local anesthetics, when compared to only local anesthetics, for relief of pain in patients with chronic non-cancer pain. Chronic non-cancer pain is common and causes significant pain and suffering to patients, and economic burden to health care system. Injection of steroids is an option, either by targeting the painful structure or the associated neural elements. Steroids are commonly mixed with local anesthetics in the hope of prolonging the pain relief. Since there is no evident inflammation in most chronic pain conditions, and because existing clinical studies do not consistently support its effectiveness in various clinical conditions, the potential value of adding steroids is questionable. This clinical question has been addressed through a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials comparing injections of steroid with local anesthetics against only local anesthetics for chronic non-cancer pain conditions. Our review found that there is paucity of good quality randomized controlled studies specifically addressing this comparison. Although a large numbers of studies were identified, there was a small effect favoring steroids in studies measuring pain relief by dichotomous outcomes. Overall confidence in the effect estimates were limited due to serious concerns of bias, significant heterogeneity and variability in studies, leading to low quality. A majority of the included studies did not aim to capture the full spectrum of adverse effects. Future studies addressing this clinical question should aim to be of optimum size, must aim to limit the threat of bias, and capture all patient important outcomes including pain relief. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Chronic pain has no cure. It is a lifelong condition presenting a growing concern due to its high occurrence and effects on every facet of life. It cost about $635 billion each year in medical treatment and lost productivity (IOM, 2011). The management of chronic pain using prescription painkiller opioids has increased drastically in the last two decades, leading to a consequential increase in deaths from chronic opioid use. This Plan-Do-Study-Act quality improvement project investigates the problem of the prevalence of opioid prescription using agent-based computational modeling method. The simulation models the interaction of 50 patient-agents with pain self-management messages in an episode of 50 patient iterations (visits) for 10 simulated years. This interaction generates health benefit and risk outcomes represented by wellness data obtained when messages are processed. As the simulation runs, data are dynamically captured and visualized using wellness charts, time series plots, and benefit and risk regression plots. The result of the project provides evidence for research and practice on the process of achieving more impact of programs based on administering pain self-management education to patients with chronic non-cancer pain who are currently on opioid therapy and on the process of customizing interventions that might take advantage of the conditions of behavior change driven by pain self-management messages. The tools and the evidences in this project are highly recommended to nurse practitioners primary care providers involve with providing care to the vulnerable groups of patient with chronic non-cancer pain. These evidences might inform the formation of self-management interventions that might lead to a decline in opioid use and prescription and accelerate the acceptance of self-management practices.

Bakgrund: Cancersmärta är ett växande problem för både vårdpersonal och patienter, eftersom cancer drabbar allt fler människor. Tidigare forskning visar att sjuksköterskor uttrycker en brist på kunskap och insikt i cancersmärta och patienters erfarenheter av cancersmärta, särskilt i eget hem. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva patienters upplevelser av cancersmärta i hemmet. Metod: En kvalitativ litteraturstudie, som inkluderar 13 artiklar analyserade utifrån Evans beskrivande syntes med en berättande sammanfattning. Resultat: Resultatet från den här studien består av tre huvudteman och sex subteman. Huvudteman inkluderar Upplevelser av att förlora kontroll, Upplevelser av oförståelse och Upplevelser av självstyre av smärtvården. Slutsats: Patienterna upplevde att cancersmärtan resulterade i en förlust av kontroll eftersom de upplevde att smärtan begränsade deras liv samt att vara hjälplös. De upplevde en oförståelse vilket omfattade att ha svårt att tala om och förstå smärtan. De uttryckte upplevelser av självstyre i smärtvården både genom att på egna sätt hantera och uthärda smärtan och att vara den som kontrollerar smärtbehandlingen. / Background: Cancer pain is a growing problem for both our personal and patients, where cancer affects more and more people. Previous research shows that nurses express a lack of knowledge and insight into cancer pain and patients' experiences of cancer pain, especially in their own homes. Aim: The aim of this study is to describe patients' experiences of cancer pain at home. Method: A qualitative literature study, using 13 articles analyzed based on Evans' description, appeared with a narrative summary. Results: The results of this study consist of three main themes and six sub-themes. Main themes include experiences of losing control, experiences of lack of understanding and experiences of autonomy in pain-care. Conclusion: The patients experienced that the cancer pain resulted in a loss of control when they experienced limitations of their lives, as well as a life of helplessness. They experienced a lack of understanding of their pain which included having difficulties in talking about and understanding the pain. They expressed experiences of autonomy in their pain-care by managing and enduring their pain in their own ways as well as being in control of their pain treatment.