Pain Management In Minorities With Cancer

Pain Management in Minorities With Cancer

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Background

Pain is one of the worst symptoms of cancer and has a huge impact on the quality of life and function of our patients. These data indicate a significant discrepancy in the adequacy of treatment, while the likelihood that minority patients will be half as low will be insufficient. This critical observation awakens us to an important opportunity in healthcare to work hard to eliminate this striking discrepancy. (Booker& Herr,2016).

Researchers at the Cancer Center, MD, Anderson, University of Texas, found that more than 33.3% of people with invasive cancer do not receive enough pain medication , and minorities are not twice as likely to get analgesics . This study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology , is the largest prospective evaluation ever performed on an outpatient basis for pain cancer and related symptoms (Edwards, Sun, Zhang, Holmes, Song, Khalil & Valero, 2018).

Significance to nursing

How one actually experiences pain as a patient - that varies from person to person. The type of cancer and the stage of the disease play a role. The psychological situation also has an effect. It is difficult for all elders , but particularly cultural minorities like elder African Americans who previously practice or are at increased risk for pain management discrepancies (Booker& Herr,2016). According to the researchers, the ambulatory setting is a unique experience. Patients with significant pain who receive treatment on an outpatient basis usually assess their pain with their treating oncologists, while patients who are in the hospital can be evaluated by nurses and pain specialists. “The IVR intervention lower pain and symptom severity for underserved minority females with breast cancer”.(Anderson, Palos, Mendoza, Cleeland, Liao & Hahn, 2015) and again this article is states that “The IVR intervention was also related with progresses in sleep trouble, a sign that did not activate alarms”(Anderson, Palos, Mendoza, Cleeland, Liao & Hahn, 2015). In any case: pain affects the quality of life. The treatment of pain is individually tailored to the patient's pain, other illnesses, their treatment and the psychosocial situation

References

Anderson, K. O., Palos, G. R., Mendoza, T. R., Cleeland, C. S., Liao, K. P., Fisch, M. J., ... &

Hahn, K. M. (2015). Automated pain intervention for underserved minority women with breast cancer. Cancer, 121(11), 1882-1890.

Booker, S., & Herr, K. (2016). (214) An investigation of racial differences in evidence-based

cancer pain management in African American and Caucasian American older adult hospice patients. The Journal of Pain, 17(4), S29. doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2016.01.118

Edwards, B. J., Sun, M., Zhang, X., Holmes, H. M., Song, J., Khalil, P., ... & Valero, V. (2018).

Fractures frequently occur in older cancer patients: the MD Anderson Cancer Center experience. Supportive Care in Cancer, 26(5), 1561-1568.

Ezenwa, M. O., Ameringer, S., Ward, S. E., & Serlin, R. C. (2006). Racial and ethnic disparities

in pain management in the United States. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 38(3), 225-233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1547-5069.2006.00107.x