Pain Management Skills for Minority Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

Improving pain control for patients with metastatic breast cancer will significantly reduce the morbidity of this disease. It is estimated that 192,200 women are newly diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S. each year (Greenlee et al., 2001). Approximately 70% of these women are diagnosed in the early stages of the disease, due mainly to progress in screening and diagnosis. Despite improvements in cancer care for patients with early stage disease, a large number of patients will still develop metastatic disease, and mortality rates for these patients remain relatively constant. Minority women are more likely than white women to have advanced disease at diagnosis, and treatment outcomes are worse for minority women (Freeman & Wasfie, 1989; ACS, 2001). Improving the quality of life of patients who will die of their disease, especially controlling their pain, should be as much a priority for these patients as improving the therapeutic approaches for their disease.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2002
Accession Number
ADA420284

Entities

People

  • Miroslav Backonja

Organizations

  • University of Wisconsin–Madison

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • African Americans
  • Analgesia
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Health Care
  • Health Services
  • Medical Personnel
  • Minority Groups
  • Opioids
  • Pain
  • Pain Management
  • Pharmacies
  • Physicians
  • Therapy

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Gender and Food Studies
  • Oncology
  • Trauma or Military Medicine