Family members' perceptions of cancer pain. Comparisons with patient sensory report and by patient psychologic status.

This study was the first to compare patient and family member perceptions of sensory pain and to describe the relationships between these perceptions and psychological factors in patients with lung cancer and pain. Our findings indicate that family members understand the patient's pain location about 75% of the time; however, family members rarely understand the patient's pain intensity, pain quality, or pain pattern. Our findings also indicate that family members tend to overestimate strategies used by patients to cope with pain, especially in patients with low levels of anxiety and in patients with an internal locus of control. Although findings from this study differ from some previous studies, our study provides additional data to suggest that discrepancies may exist between family member and patient perceptions of the cancer pain experience. Nurses need to be aware of potential discrepancies and to combine assessment information from both patients and family members when developing pain management interventions.