Coping with Pain in the Face of Healthcare Injustice in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease

AbstractTo evaluate the pain coping strategies of patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) who experience healthcare injustice from either physicians or nurses during medical visits for pain management. It is unknown how patients ’ coping with pain relates to their experiences of healthcare injustice from physicians or nurses. This descriptive comparative study included adult outpatients with SCD who completed the PAINReportIt®, Healthcare Justice Questionnaire©, and Coping Strategies Questionnaire-SCD. Data were analyzed using independentt tests. Frequent coping strategies of patients who experiencedhealthcare justice from physicians were praying-hoping and from nurses were praying-hoping, calming self-statements, diverting attention, and increasing behavioral activity. In contrast, frequent coping strategies of patients who experiencedhealthcare injustice from physicians were catastrophizing and isolation and from nurses were isolation. Patients who experiencedhealthcare justice used different sets of pain coping strategies than those who experiencedhealthcare injustice during medical visits for pain management.
Source: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research