Browsing by Author "Minkkinen, Hanna"

Pain is a common symptom among cancer patients, and its occurrence may result from cancer itself, cancer treatment and/or other non-cancer health problems. Cancer pain is usually treated medically. After the development of the biopsychosocial model of pain it was understood that psychological factors affect the pain experience. Nonpharmacologic interventions are generally the basis of pain management, and psychological interventions significantly contributes to the management of cancer pain. This review examines evidence for psychological interventions that can be used to reveal adults’ cancer pain. The literature search was conducted in one database, PubMed, and the search was limited to years 2010-2019. The search was made using two keyword combinations: 1) psycholog* and oncological pain, and 2) psychological intervention and oncological pain. Articles were chosen by reviewing titles and abstracts. In addition, reference lists of the chosen articles were reviewed to identify additional relevant articles. Articles addressing examination or operation related pain were excluded as well as studies that included children or adolescents. Psychological interventions used in cancer pain management can be divided into skill based and education-based interventions. In skill-based interventions the patient learns concrete coping strategies. In addition, they aim at changing the way the patient interprets pain. In education based interventions the patient acquires information about the disease, analgesic medications, and effective communication regarding pain with health care providers. According to meta-analyses psychological interventions were effective in managing cancer pain. They affected both pain severity and inconvenience. Studies focusing only one intervention type showed partially similar results. Mindfulness-based programs were the most promising of the skill-based interventions. The evidence for hypnosis and yoga was weak, so more research is needed before any clear conclusions can be made. All education-based interventions were effective in managing cancer pain. Thus, pain education seems to be beneficial regardless the way it is implemented.