The Pain Relief Network

LuAnn Nowak, Nurse Practitioner, Dorothy Lee, Nurse Practitioner, and April Hazard Vallerand, Principal Investigator. College of Nursing, Wayne State University, 2267 Shoreline Drive, Brighton, MI 48114

Purpose: Prescription of opioid analgesics for managing chronic nonmalignant pain is controversial. Chronic opioid therapy is rarely utilized as a treatment option because health care professionals fear addiction, tolerance, and regulatory scrutiny. Yet, opioids have been shown to decrease pain intensity, enhance functioning, and improve quality of life for adults with chronic pain. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experience of adults receiving opioid therapy for relief of chronic nonmalignant pain.

Design/Sample/Methods: This phenomenological study employed a purposeful sample of 27 adults on chronic opioid therapy. Data were collected through in-depth interviews. A line-by-line content analysis was conducted to facilitate coding, categorization, and synthesis of the data. Three researchers recurrently examined the data in parts and as a whole to verify inter-rater reliability of the coding scheme.

Findings: Two general themes emerged from the data: 1) barriers to treatment and 2) comparisons of life before and after opioid therapy. Barriers to treatment included fear of addiction, diagnostic ambiguity leading to perceived pain illegitimacy, and stigma associated with chronic opioid use. Life before treatment included desperation and inability to function. Life after treatment involved balancing pain control with secrecy regarding the opioid regimen, fear of losing pain management, and thankfulness for being able to obtain some quality of life.

Conclusions: Patients receiving chronic opioid therapy face internal and external conflicts regarding the use of opioid therapy for pain control. They trade the incapacitation of chronic pain for secrecy in order to regain their life and improve their functional capacity.

Implications: Awareness of the barriers and benefits of treatment experienced by adults with chronic nonmalignant pain will enable nurses to develop and implement appropriate interventions and to act as advocates on behalf of adults using chronic opioid therapy.

Session #1223 – Graduate Student Poster Session

The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)

http://mnrs.confex.com/mnrs/2005
/techprogram/paper_8907.htm