What is pain-related suffering? Conceptual critiques, key attributes, and outstanding questions

Suffering holds a central place within pain research, theory, and practice. However, the construct of pain-related suffering has yet to be operationalized by the International Association for the Study of Pain and is largely underdeveloped. Eric Cassell's seminal work on suffering serves as a conceptual anchor for the limited pain research that specifically addresses this construct. Yet, important critiques of Cassell's work have not been integrated within the pain literature. This Focus Article aims to take a preliminary step towards an updated operationalization of pain-related suffering by (1) presenting key attributes of pain-related suffering derived from a synthesis of the literature and (2) highlighting key challenges associated with Cassell's conceptualization of suffering.
Source: The Journal of Pain - Category: Materials Science Authors: Tags: Focus Article Source Type: research