Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
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Severe pain is a common symptom of sickle cell disease (SCD). Transitions between adult and pediatric care are a point of particular vulnerability for patients, increasing the risk for poor pain management. The purpose of this literature review was to investigate the relationships among self-efficacy, transition, and SCD health outcomes. ⋯ If providers can identify individuals in this population with low self-efficacy, they may be able to intervene early to improve patient outcomes. Most identified studies point to the positive correlation between self-efficacy and positive health outcomes in adolescents with SCD. Self-efficacy has the potential to guide self-care interventions and further research with the SCD population.
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Self-care is an important aspect of managing a chronic disease. In sickle cell disease (SCD), home self-care contributes to individual pain management and thus pain crisis prevention. A better understanding of self-care can help health care providers equip patients with the resources and skills necessary to participate in their disease management. ⋯ Of the hypothesized variables, only income was significantly associated with hospital visits for pain crises (r = -0.219, p = .05). Individuals with SCD may benefit from self-care interventions that enhance social support, SCD self-efficacy, and access to education. To inform intervention development, further investigation is needed regarding daily self-care behaviors used by young adults with SCD.
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Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) have reported being stigmatized when they seek care for pain. Nurse attitudes contribute to stigmatization and may affect patients' response to sickle cell cues, care-seeking, and ultimately patient outcomes. ⋯ No significant differences were noted in attitudes by worksite, with nurses from both sites demonstrating high levels of negative attitudes toward patients with SCD. Findings suggest that nurses from both worksites need additional education about SCD and care of this vulnerable, patient population.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
The Effectiveness of Vitamin B12 for Relieving Pain in Aphthous Ulcers: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial.
Aphthous ulcers, the most common oral mucosal lesions seen in primary care, occur in up to ∼2%-50% of the general population. Our objective was to confirm the analgesic benefit of treatment of mouth ulcers with vitamin B12 as adjunctive therapy. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was performed with primary care patients. ⋯ Statistically significant differences in pain levels were found between the intervention group and the control group after 2 days of treatment (mean visual analog scale, 0.36 [95% CI, 0.01-0.71] vs. 1.80 [1.16-2.44]; p < .001). In conclusion, the results of this research study provide evidence that vitamin B12 is an effective analgesic treatment for aphthous ulcers. This study indicates that healthcare providers could use vitamin B12 as an adjunctive therapy for mouth ulcers, providing more effective pain management and improving the quality of life for patients with mouth ulcers.
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There are limited epidemiologic studies on chronic pain in Asian populations. The aim of this review was to gather all epidemiologic studies of chronic pain in Asian countries and systematically describe the measurement and prevalence of chronic pain in Asian adults. A systematic review was performed using PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Psych INFO, Cochrane Database for Systematic Review, and CINAHL. ⋯ The prevalence of chronic pain among Asian adults ranges from 7.1% (Malaysia) to 61% (Cambodia and Northern Iraq), whereas among the Asian geriatric population, the prevalence is even higher and ranges from 42% to 90.8%. This review showed that there is great variation in the reported prevalence of chronic pain in Asian adults and the prevalence of chronic pain is high among the Asian geriatric population. To measure the distribution of chronic pain in adults, a uniform measurement strategy should be adopted.