Psychological approaches to the management of cancer-related pain

Psycho-Oncology: Psychological Well·Being as One Component of Quality of Life

“…Moreover, a positive relationship exists be tween degree of depression and the patient's experience of cancer-related pain [64], Cogni tive factors, such as interpreting pain as signs of disease progression [65,66] and attention to somatic cues [67], may increase pain rat ings. Individuals who exhibit a predisposition to focus on somatic symptoms and who are simultaneously anxious tend to report more areas of pain and rate their pain as higher than those with only one contributing variable (high anxiety or high predisposition to notice bodily sensations) or those with neither vari able [67,68], Behavioral manifestations of pain, such as guarding, grimacing, verbal ex pressions, and analgesic intake, can be rein forced by environmental factors such as atten tion, social support, or avoidance of unpleas ant tasks [69], in benign as well as cancer pain [70,71], Finally, sociocultural factors such as ethnic background and gender may have subtle influences on the patient's experience of pain [63,72], It is clear that multiple factors contribute to a cancer patient's experience of pain, and that virtually all the components of quality of life, both the physical and the psychological, must be considered in addressing a patient with pain. Interactions among psychological, physiological, social, and even spiritual fac tors are certainly not limited to the examples described here.…”

Νοσηλευτικη Αξιολογηση Του Πονου Αρρωστων Με Καρκινο

“…Η πολυδιάστατη αντίληψη του πόνου συνέβαλε στην ανάπτυξη μη φαρμα κευτικών τεχνικών θεραπείας του. Η αντιμετώπιση του χρόνιου πόνου επιβοηθεί ται σημαντικά από τις εναλλακτικές αυτές μορφές θεραπείας αν και οι διαθέσιμες κλινικές μελέτες χρήσης τους είναι σποραδικές και χαρακτηρίζονται από μεθοδο λογικά προβλήματα (Cartside 1986, Fernandez 1986, Ahles 1987.…”