Pain perception in cancer patients

Abstract

Objective: To know the perception of cancer patients about cancer pain in a referral hospital in the Amazon. Methods: This is a qualitative, descriptive research carried out with cancer patients of both sexes, admitted to a reference hospital in oncology in the Amazon. For data collection, the Pain Assessment Form by Wiermann EG, et al. (2014), followed by a script-guided interview. The data obtained were analyzed according to the Discursive Textual Analysis. Results: The way each patient assimilates the diagnosis and deals with the disease, permeates their life experiences and their experiences with cancer itself, whether within the family or in their social circle. Respondents use several adjectives to characterize pain: horrible, unbearable, sad, bad. However, it was observed in the interviews that it is not easy to represent cancer pain in words. All participants mentioned medications as a pain relief factor and as a worsening factor, mainly, the movement of the body for basic daily activities. Final considerations: Even with its subjective and personal nature, pain is perceived as something negative, difficult to control and influences several aspects of life.