[Oncological patients' decision making processes concerning their pain medication at home: a qualitative secondary analysis]

Unrelieved pain affects up to 75 % of cancer patients. Possible reasons for the undertreatment of pain are, amongst others, patient-related barriers towards cancer pain management. However the way patients decide on the use of analgesics remains unclear. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore decision-making processes of four women and four men with diverse cancers concerning their pain medications. Audiotaped protocols of the 10-week-intervention and interviews of the PEINCA-pilot study provided data for a secondary analysis. This pilot study was conducted at a comprehensive cancer centre in Germany to test the German version of a cancer pain self-management intervention to enhance oncology patients' pain self-management for the first time. The data of purposively selected patients were analysed using content analysis. The results showed that these patients were very ambivalent about their analgesic use. The need to relieve severe pain conflicted with the desire to avoid opioids at any price. Decisions were reconsidered and overturned even after good experiences with analgesics. This study seems to provide a first look into decision-making processes over 10 weeks during a self-management education. Individually tailored counselling by a professional within the education programme helped the patients adopt new attitudes towards analgesics and gradually reduce their pain levels. Previous experiences of the patients and their possible ambivalence towards analgesics should be considered in a pain therapy, and patients should be coached by professionals.