The following is a summary of “Effect of Pain Coping Skills Training on Pain and Pain Medication Use for Women With Breast Cancer,” published in the JULY 2023 issue of Pain Management by Fisher, et al.

Women with breast cancer often experience distressing pain, and pain medications may not provide complete relief and can have negative side effects. Cognitive-behavioral pain interventions have shown promise in reducing pain severity and improving self-efficacy in pain management. However, their impact on pain medication use is not well understood. The length of the intervention and the use of coping skills may influence pain outcomes. For a secondary analysis, researchers examined the differences in pain severity, pain medication use, pain self-efficacy, and coping skill use between women receiving five- and one-session cognitive-behavioral pain intervention protocols. They also explored whether pain self-efficacy and coping skills were used to mediate the effects of the interventions on pain and pain medication use.

A randomized trial was conducted with 327 women diagnosed with stage I–III breast cancer. Participants were assigned to receive individually delivered, five- or one-session pain coping skills training (PCST). Preintervention and postintervention assessments were conducted to measure pain severity, pain medication use, pain self-efficacy, and coping skills use.

Both groups of participants experienced significant decreases in pain severity and pain medication use, along with increased pain self-efficacy, from pre- to post-intervention (P’s < .05). However, the five-session PCST participants showed greater improvements in pain (P = .03) pain medication use (P = .04), pain self-efficacy (P = .02), and coping skills use (P = .04) compared to the one-session PCST participants. Pain self-efficacy mediated the relationship between the intervention condition and pain and pain medication use.

The five- and one-session cognitive-behavioral pain interventions improved pain outcomes, pain medication use, pain self-efficacy, and coping skills use. However, the five-session PCST demonstrated the greatest benefits. Brief cognitive-behavioral pain interventions effectively improve pain outcomes, and pain self-efficacy plays a role in these effects.

Source: jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(23)00445-1/fulltext