Paulo Marques^1,, Patrícia Gonçalves², Elisabete Meira³, Nícia Pereira⁴, Ana Sousa⁵

Aims: This literature review aims to assess the contribution of pain education in reducing cancer pain. Methods and sample: An electronic search of articles was performed in CINAHL and MEDLINE with Full Text, from 2003 to 2013, using the EBSCOhost motor search at the Porto Nursing School. The studies were selected obeying search limits 'find all my search terms', 'full text', 'adult', ‘portuguese’, ‘english’ and ‘french’ languages, 'Randomised Control Trials', based on the following inclusion criteria: articles whose participants are patients with cancer pain admitted to medical and surgical units or outpatient services, articles whose intervention includes education on pain and articles which report the implications of intervention in cancer pain intensity. Results: Five studies with a high level of evidence were included in the review. Four studies reported a reduction in pain intensity after intervention, three of them with statistically significant pain reduction. Conclusions: Education can be an important resource for the reduction of pain intensity, and can be implemented by different health professionals, particularly nurses. Its implementation is recommended for the reduction of this specific type of pain. Implications for practice: It is hoped that our findings will increase nurses’ awareness of the importance of involving patients in their own care; Pain education may improve patient’s ability to manage their own pain.

cancer, neoplasms, pain management, education, nursing