When mesothelioma develops in a patient, the pain can typically increase over time, requiring prescription narcotics to manage it. Even with the potent drugs, pain often persists for the patients. A new report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology discusses a supplementary option in pain management for patients: psychosocial interventions.
Researchers found that psychosocial interventions for patients had “medium-size effects” on both pain severity and pain interference in adults with cancer.
Reviewing studies published between 1966 and 2010 of cancer patients, researchers from Columbia University in New York City found 37 papers for which measures of pain severity and pain interference could be assessed. Speaking of their findings, the authors said, “These robust findings support the systematic implementation of quality-controlled psychosocial interventions as part of a multimodal approach to the management of pain in patients with cancer.”
According to the International Association for the Study of Pain, the primary psychosocial intervention used to manage pain is cognitive-behavioral therapy. This therapy often includes education focusing on explaining how a patient’s feelings can influence the intensity of the pain. The patient is then shown how their thoughts, feelings and behaviors can be used to cope with, and lessen, the pain. Then the patients are shown how to develop a program for managing their pain and how to “overcome setbacks and relapses in their coping efforts.”
The combination of prescription pain medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy could have significant benefits for mesothelioma patients suffering moderate to severe pain.
Cappolino Dodd Krebs, LLP – mesothelioma lawyers