Kodiath M F, Kodiath A
Clin Nurs Res. 1992 Aug;1(3):278-91. doi: 10.1177/105477389200100307.
Pain is the most frequently reported symptom in the health care industry today. Chronic pain in the United States costs millions of dollars annually, and its financial impact is mounting. For individuals living in the United States, chronic pain affects nearly all normal activities and often leaves the person feeling helpless and hopeless. Literature supports the idea that chronic pain does not have the same debilitating effect in the Eastern cultures as it does in the Western cultures. Therefore, clients from both a Western and Eastern culture were studied. This qualitative research, based on grounded theory, sampled 20 persons from India and 20 from the United States. Focused, open-ended interviews were used as the major manner of gathering data. Although the condition of chronic pain was the same for each culture, there were significant differences regarding the phenomenon of chronic pain. This research indicates the need for health professionals to assess, implement a plan of care for, and evaluate patients' suffering and need for improved quality of life rather than focusing only on the elimination of pain.
疼痛是当今医疗行业中最常被报告的症状。在美国，慢性疼痛每年造成数百万美元的损失，其经济影响正在不断增加。对于生活在美国的个人而言，慢性疼痛几乎影响所有正常活动，常常让患者感到无助和绝望。文献表明，慢性疼痛在东方文化中造成的衰弱影响与西方文化中并不相同。因此，对来自西方文化和东方文化的患者都进行了研究。这项基于扎根理论的定性研究，从印度抽取了20人，从美国抽取了20人作为样本。聚焦式的开放式访谈被用作收集数据的主要方式。尽管每种文化中的慢性疼痛状况相同，但在慢性疼痛现象方面存在显著差异。这项研究表明，医疗专业人员需要评估、实施护理计划并评估患者的痛苦以及改善生活质量的需求，而不是仅仅专注于消除疼痛。
