Jho, H.J., Myung, S.K., Chang, Y.J., Kim, D.H., & Ko, D.H. (2013). Efficacy of pain education in cancer patients: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Supportive Care in Cancer, 21, 1963–1971.
STUDY PURPOSE: To evaluate the overall efficacy of pain education among patients with cancer by using a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
TYPE OF STUDY: Meta-analysis and systematic review
DATABASES USED: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library
KEYWORDS: cancer; pain; education; counseling
INCLUSION CRITERIA: RCTs that included patients with cancer with pain, used an education intervention for cancer pain management, and presented pain intensity at baseline and after intervention
EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Duplicated studies; same study in more than one publication
TOTAL REFERENCES RETRIEVED = 213 (36 thoroughly reviewed)
EVALUATION METHOD AND COMMENTS ON LITERATURE USED: Two investigators independently reviewed and then compared discrepancies. Studies were rated on a 1–5 quality scale for RCT evaluation.
This study showed that overall pain education in patients with cancer showed a small efficacy on pain relief in the meta-analysis of these RCTs.
Further studies are needed regarding the use of pain education on patients with cancer and the relation to pain relief. Because some patients benefited from the interventions, nurses may focus on situations in which patients received the most benefits (e.g., inpatients, patients with the most severe pain, education within the first two weeks of follow-up).