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Copyright of Ege Journal of Medicine is the property of Ege University, Faculty of Medicine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of reflexology on pain intensity in patients with fibromyalgia, using an experimental repeated-measures design, and a convenience sample of 30 fibromyalgia inpatients. Thirty patients aged 18 to 70 years with fibromyalgia and hospitalized in the algology clinic were taken as a convenience sample. Patients received a total of 12 60-minute sessions of reflexology over a period of 6 consecutive weeks. Reflexology was carried out bilaterally on the hands and feet of patients at the reflex points relating to their pain at a suitable intensity and angle. Subjects had pain scores taken immediately before the intervention (0 minute), and at the 60th minute of the intervention. Data were collected over a 10-month period in 2012. The patients' mean pain intensity scores were reduced by reflexology, and this decrease improved progressively in the first and sixth weeks of the intervention, indicating a cumulative dose effect. The results of this study implied that the inclusion of reflexology in the routine care of patients with fibromyalgia could provide nurses with an effective practice for reducing pain intensity in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The number of studies and evidences is inadequate especially with regard to the efficacy of pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) application in non-spinal indications. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of PRF on pain, functioning and quality of life in patients with advanced knee OA. METHODS: The study included 21 patients with complaints of knee pain. Intra-articular PRF was applied for 10 minutes at 42°C. Pain severity was assessed using the 10 cm standard visual analogue scale (VAS). Outcome measures also included a 20-meter walk test, a 6-minute walk test, WOMAC, Lequesne index, and the Short Form-36 (SF-36). All measurements were assessed before treatment and 4 and 12 weeks after the treatment. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement was found in VAS scores at rest and after walking, subscores of SF36-pain and SF36-social functioning, and Lequesne score at week four (p < 0.05). This improvement was maintained for the scores of VAS-walking at week 12 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: It is possible to state that intra-articular PRF application is effective and safe for the pain treatment of patients with advanced knee OA. Therefore, we think that PRF application will be included in chronic pain treatment guidelines in the future with the increase in the number of future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the individual experience of living with cancer pain. This qualitative study was performed by using a phenomenological research design. In-depth and open interviews with participants were conducted to collect the data and a qualitative Colaizzi method of analysis was performed. Following the analysis of the data, the expressions made by the cancer patients during the interviews were grouped under 5 themes. Consistent with the questionnaire format, 5 themes and 19 subthemes of responses were determined describing the pain of the cancer patients. The results of our study have demonstrated that cancer patients go through negative physical, psychological, and social experiences due to the pain they suffered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study is to develop the 'Developing an Ethical Attitude Scale for Pain Management in Nursing' to assign the ethical attitudes of nurses in pain management., Methods: The population of the study comprised nurses (n=411) working in a university hospital in İzmir. The Ethical Attitude Scale in Nursing Pain Management was developed in five sub-dimensions: 'Care and Dignity,' 'Ethical Values,' 'Attitude,' 'Rights,' and 'Pain Management.' This scale was created by examining many research studies related to pain management in nursing in the literature and taking expert opinions. 'The Ethical Attitude Scale in Nursing Pain Management' initially consisted of 36 items. After expert opinions and validity analyses, the draft scale was reduced to 34 items, and then reliability analysis further reduced the scale to 23 items., Results: In the validity and reliability study of 'The Ethical Attitude Scale in Nursing Pain Management,' the total Cronbach's alpha value of the scale was 0.86. The Cronbach's alpha value for the 'Care and Dignity' sub-dimension was 0.88; for the 'Ethical Values' sub-dimension, it was 0.83; for the 'Attitude' sub-dimension, it was 0.86; for the 'Rights' sub-dimension, it was 0.79; and for the 'Pain Management' sub-dimension, it was 0.72., Conclusion: According to these data, it was determined that 'The Ethical Attitude Scale in Nursing Pain Management' is a valid and reliable scale.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form for patients with chronic nonmalignant pain., Methods: An analytical design was used. A total of 192 patients were included in the study. A demographic questionnaire and the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form were used to collect data. Content validity was assessed by experts and construct validity was tested using exploratory factor analysis. Reliability analyses estimated the internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Cronbach's alpha and the item-total correlations were calculated for the subscales to examine internal consistency., Results: Exploratory factor analysis yielded 2 factors: pain severity and pain interference, which accounted for 68.81% of the total variance. The coefficient alpha of both subscales demonstrated good internal consistency. The item-total correlations of the scale ranged between 0.56 and 0.87. The test-retest reliability was r=0.774 for pain severity and r=0.808 for pain interference (p=0.001)., Conclusion: The Turkish version of the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form is a valid and reliable instrument to assess chronic nonmalignant pain.

Introduction: To investigate the validity and reliability of the "Global Pain Scale" for Turkish population ., Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Algology outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Izmir, Turkey, between March and December 2015, and comprised patients with chronic pain aged at least 18 years. Linguistic equivalence, content validity and construct validity were used for establishing the validity of the Global Pain Scale, while the Content Validity Index was used for the assessment of expert views. SPSS 16was used for data analysis., Results: Of the 222 subjects, 142(64%) were females. Overall mean age of the sample was 54.22±13.79 years. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the entire scale was 0.95. Total item correlation coefficients of the items in the scale ranged between 0.502 and 0.794, and no items were removed from the scale., Conclusions: The Global Pain Scale was found to have adequate validity and reliability indicators, and can be used with confidence in patients experiencing chronic pain.

Background: Pain acceptance is the process of giving up the struggle with pain and learning to live a worthwhile life despite it. In assessing patients with chronic pain in Turkey, making a diagnosis and tracking the effectiveness of treatment is done with scales that have been translated into Turkish. However, there is as yet no valid and reliable scale in Turkish to assess the acceptance of pain., Aims: To validate a Turkish version of the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire developed by McCracken and colleagues., Study Design: Methodological and cross sectional study., Methods: A simple randomized sampling method was used in selecting the study sample. The sample was composed of 201 patients, more than 10 times the number of items examined for validity and reliability in the study, which totaled 20. A patient identification form, the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire, and the Brief Pain Inventory were used to collect data. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews. In the validity testing, the content validity index was used to evaluate linguistic equivalence, content validity, construct validity, and expert views. In reliability testing of the scale, Cronbach’s α coefficient was calculated, and item analysis and split-test reliability methods were used. Principal component analysis and varimax rotation were used in factor analysis and to examine factor structure for construct concept validity., Results: The item analysis established that the scale, all items, and item-total correlations were satisfactory. The mean total score of the scale was 21.78. The internal consistency coefficient was 0.94, and the correlation between the two halves of the scale was 0.89., Conclusion: The Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire, which is intended to be used in Turkey upon confirmation of its validity and reliability, is an evaluation instrument with sufficient validity and reliability, and it can be reliably used to examine patients’ acceptance of chronic pain.

This study aims to explore the individual experience of living with cancer pain. This qualitative study was performed by using a phenomenological research design. In-depth and open interviews with participants were conducted to collect the data and a qualitative Colaizzi method of analysis was performed. Following the analysis of the data, the expressions made by the cancer patients during the interviews were grouped under 5 themes. Consistent with the questionnaire format, 5 themes and 19 subthemes of responses were determined describing the pain of the cancer patients. The results of our study have demonstrated that cancer patients go through negative physical, psychological, and social experiences due to the pain they suffered.

Aim: The Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS) is a multidimensional tool developed to evaluate measure the prevalence, characteristics and distress of common symptoms related to cancer. A validated Turkish version has now become available. The aim of this study was to evaluate its reliability and validity., Methods: One hundred-twenty patients were included into this study. The MSAS, The Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL), and Karnofsky Performance Status Scale (KPSS) were used for data collection. Content and criterion validities were examined. Reliability analyses of the MSAS were performed using internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability., Results: The most frequently reported symptom (90%) was problems with sexual interest or activity. Item-total correlations ranged between 0.03 and 0.64. There was a high correlation between total MSAS and the RSCL (r=0.875, p<0.01). The internal consistency reliabilities of subscales of the MSAS and total MSAS were moderately high, with Cronbach alpha coefficients ranging from 0.71 to 0.84. The MSAS's test - re-test reliability was 0.78., Conclusion: The MSAS for cancer patients was determined to be a valid and reliable instrument for the use in the Turkish population. It is recommended that the MSAS-Turkish version can be used as a tool for comprehensive symptom assessment in planning nursing care for cancer patients.

Aims and Objectives: This study aims to evaluate and compare nursing and medical students' attitudes and knowledge about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)., Background: Despite increased popularity of the use of complementary and alternative medicine, it is not included in nursing and medicine schools' curricula in many countries., Design: A cross-sectional design was used., Method: This study's research population included 972 students who were educated at a school of nursing and a faculty of medicine during the academic year 2006-2007. The study used a questionnaire the researchers prepared as data collection form. Pearson chi-square test was used to observe the differences between nursing and medical students. A p-value <0.05 was accepted statistically significant., Results: The population was 49.1% nursing students and 50.9% medical students. Of the nursing students, 57.8% agreed with the statements that complementary and alternative medicine modalities should be integrated into clinical practice, 61.3% agreed for curriculum. Of the medical school students, 32.6% agreed for clinical practice and 37.9% for curriculum. The nursing students had sufficient knowledge of mostly massage and imagery; and medical students had sufficient knowledge of mostly diet therapy, vitamins and prayer., Conclusions: The results of current study reveal that nursing students adopt more positive attitudes than medical students towards complementary and alternative medicine therapies and that both student groups have limited knowledge of complementary and alternative medicine modalities., Relevance to Clinical Practice: Physicians and nurses play important roles in helping patients use complementary and alternative medicine safely and accurately. Therefore, as future nurses and physicians, nursing and medical students should have sufficient knowledge of and education on complementary and alternative medicine modalities. In this context, handling complementary and alternative medicine on a scientific scale and including it in nursing and medical students' educational programmes should be among the goals and plans in Turkey.

The purpose of this randomized controlled study was to investigate the effect of a pain education program (PEP) on pain intensity, patients' satisfaction with pain treatment, and patient-related barriers to pain management among Turkish patients with cancer. The study was conducted in a sample of 40 patients who were hospitalized for cancer and experiencing pain. The patients were equally randomized to either a PEP or a control group. The data were collected by means of the McGill Pain Questionnaire, the Numeric Rating Scale, and the Barrier Questionnaire-Revised. After the completion of the questionnaires at the first interview, patients in the PEP group received pain education using a pain educational booklet and an explanatory slide program that discussed the booklet's content with the patients. Patients in the control group received routine clinical care. The questionnaires were reapplied to the patients in both groups after 2, 4, and 8 weeks. Participation in a PEP was associated with decreased pain intensity scores for "present" and "least pain" during weeks 2, 4, and 8 (p < .05). Similarly, there were significant differences between the groups with respect to weeks 2, 4, and 8 satisfaction with pain treatment (p < .05). At the end of second week, the total BQ-r score decreased significantly in the PEP group from 2.12 to 1.29 compared with 2.30 to 2.28 in the control group (p < .001). The findings suggest that the PEP decreases pain intensity, improves satisfaction with treatment, and decreases barriers about cancer pain management in cancer patients. Incorparation of PEP into the standard of care for cancer patients with pain may improve the quality of pain management.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hopelessness level and the relationship of depression, anxiety and disease-related factors to the presence of hopelessness among Turkish patients with cancer. Ninety-five patients hospitalized for cancer treatments were recruited for current study. Data were collected by using a demographic questionnaire, the Pain Numeric Rating Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale. The mean hopelessness score was 5.20+/-4.39. There were significant differences in terms of hopelessness between the patients who had metastasis and pain as compared with those without metastasis and pain (p<0.05). There were also found that significant correlation between hopelessness and depression and between hopelessness and anxiety (r=0.721; r=0.645, respectively, p<0.001). Foreword stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the independent predictors of hopelessness were depression score and thr presence of metastasis (F=55.133; p<0.001). The findings suggest that levels of hopelessness among cancer patients with pain and metastasis are higher than among those without pain and metastasis, and that the severity of pain, anxiety, and depression is positively correlated with hopelessness level. The assessment of hopelessness, pain, anxiety and depression levels of the patients with cancer should be an essential part of health care practice. Therefore, when arranging care assessment, to evaluate hopelessness could help professionals to appropriately refer patients to further psychological care resources.

Effective pain management requires accurate knowledge, attitudes, and assessment skills. The purpose of the present study was to examine information about the knowledge and attitudes of Turkish oncology nurses regarding cancer pain management. The sample consisted of 68 oncology nurses employed in oncology and hematology units in two university hospitals located in Izmir, Turkey. The Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain was used to measure the nurses' pain management knowledge and attitudes. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, t test, Kruskal-Wallis analysis, and Pearson correlation test. Of the nurses that participated in the study, 57.4% were between the ages of 21 and 30 years, 58.8% were unmarried, and 55.9% had an associate degree. The average correct response rate was 35.41%, with rates ranging from 5.13% to 56.41% for each survey question. Among the 39 pain knowledge questions assessed, the mean number of correctly answered questions was 13.81 +/- 5.02, with a range of 2 to 22 items correctly answered. When the knowledge scores were further analyzed by nurses' background characteristics, the nurses' pain knowledge was only positively correlated to length of working experience in oncology units (r = 0.263; p < .05). The findings support the concern of inadequate knowledge and attitudes in relation to cancer pain management. We believe that basic and continuing education programs may improve knowledge level of nursing about pain management.