The expression of pain in the experience of childhood cancers

International Conference on Nursing & Emergency Medicine

December 02-04, 2013 Hampton Inn Tropicana, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Fatima Aparecida Emm Faleiros Sousa

Accepted Abstracts: J Nurs Care

Abstract :

The aim of this study was to evaluate how children/adolescents with cancer and their family could understand the pain. Were used: sociodemographic, Multidimensional Pain Evaluation Scale (MPES), and self-reports. The results showed that the age distribution (05-07, 08-11, and 12-18 years), with prevalence rates for age group between 12 and 18 years (45%), female (53%), elementary education (95%), and Catholics (62%). For MPES instrument, the results for all age group showed that the descriptors characterized in acute pain were related with affective and cognitive dimensions. On the other hand, in relation to chronic pain, such dimensions were perceived as a procedural way, according to the cognitive development, varying from concrete thinking (sensory descriptors) to abstract (affective descriptors). The reports revealed that the pain was associated to experience and subjectivity of children/adolescents with cancer through the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. In relation to the relatives, especially by mothers, it was noticed that the childhood cancer painful experience was perceived in similar way to the ill child, i.e. bidirectionally linked to the context and the time in which the disease entered them. Thus, it was concluded that the MPES was considered an easy and reliable tool to assess the pain in children with cancer and that from 05 years old, they are able to understand painful phenomenon and that the answers algic child has simlilarity to their mothers. Therefore, this study brings opportunities for a better multidisciplinary management of the phenomenon in the field of pediatric pain.

Biography :

Fatima Aparecida Emm Faleiros Sousa has completed her Ph.D. at the age of 37 years from Universidade São Paulo and postdoctoral studies from Dalhousie University, Canada. She is the leader of Laboratory of Psychophysics. She has published more than 71 papers in reputed journals and served as an editorial board member of repute.