Barriers to Pain Management as Perceived by Cancer and Noncancer Patients With Chronic Disease

Background Pain is the most common symptom experienced by both cancer and non-cancer patients. A wide variety of barriers may hinder the optimal treatment of cancer and noncancer pain that are related to the health care system, health care providers, and patients. Purpose To explore the barriers to pain management as perceived by patients with cancer and noncancer chronic diseases. Method A descriptive, cross-sectional correlational design was employed to recruit a sample of 200 patients (n = 100 patients with cancer, n= 100 patients with noncancer) from two hospitals in Jordan. Patients filled out an Arabic version of Barriers Questionnaire II (ABQ-II). Results Harmful effects of medications were the greatest barrier to effective pain management, while fatalism had the lowest mean scores. Age was negatively correlated with physiological effects (r = −0.287, p < .01), communication (r = −0.263, p < .01), harmful effects (r = −0.284, p < .01), and the overall barrier score (r = −0.326, p < .01) among noncancer patients with chronic disease and (p > .05) for patients with cancer. Patients with cancer had higher mean scores (M = 2.12, SD = 0.78) in the fatalism subscale than those with noncancer chronic disease (M = 1.91, SD = 0.68), while patients with noncancer chronic disease had significantly higher mean scores (M = 2.78, SD = 0.78) in the communication subscale than patients with cancer (M = 2.49, SD = 0.65), (t = −2.899, p = .005). Conclusion To improve the quality of care for patients who are in pain, it is recommended to address pain management barriers as they arise.