• Jung-Eun Kim, Marilyn Dodd, Claudia West, Steven Paul, Noreen Facione, Karen Schumacher, Debu Tripathy, Peter Koo, and Christine Miaskowski.
• University of California Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, USA. chris.miaskowski@nursing.ucsf.edu
• Oncol Nurs Forum. 2004 Nov 1;31(6):1137-43.

Purpose/ObjectivesTo evaluate the effectiveness of a psychoeducational program (i.e., PRO-SELF Pain Control Program) compared to standard care in increasing patients' knowledge regarding cancer pain management.DesignRandomized clinical trial.SettingSeven outpatient settings in northern California.Sample174 outpatients with cancer and pain from bone metastasis.MethodsFollowing randomization into either the PRO-SELF or standard care group, patients completed the Pain Experience Scale (PES) prior to and at the completion of the intervention.Main Research VariablesTotal and individual item scores on the PES.FindingsTotal PES knowledge scores increased significantly in the PRO-SELF group (21%) compared to the standard care group (0.5%). Significant improvements in knowledge scores for patients in the PRO-SELF group were found on five of the nine PES items when compared to baseline scores.ConclusionsThe PRO-SELF Pain Control Program was an effective approach to increase patients' knowledge of cancer pain management.Implications For NursingThe use of a structured paper-and-pencil questionnaire, such as the PES, as part of a psychoeducational intervention provides an effective foundation for patient education in cancer pain management. Oncology nurses can use patients' responses to this type of questionnaire to individualize the teaching and to spend more time on the identified knowledge deficits. This individualized approach to education about pain management may save staff time and improve patient outcomes.

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