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document
Can patient coaching reduce racial/ethnic disparities in cancer pain control ? Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial . PURPOSE Minority patients with cancer experience worse control of their pain than do their white counterparts . This disparity may , in part , reflect more miscommunication between minority patients and their physicians . Therefore , we examined whether patient coaching could reduce disparities in pain control in a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial . METHODS Sixty-seven English-speaking adult cancer outpatients , including 15 minorities , with moderate pain over the prior 2 weeks were randomly assigned to the experimental ( N = 34 ) or control group ( N = 33 ) . Experimental patients received a 20-minute individualized education and coaching session to increase knowledge of pain self-management , to redress personal misconceptions about pain treatment , and to rehearse an individually scripted patient-physician dialog about pain control . The control group received standardized information on controlling pain . Data on average pain ( 0-10 scale ) were collected at enrollment and 2-week follow-up . RESULTS At enrollment , minority patients had significantly more pain than their white counterparts ( 6.0 vs 5.0 , P = 0.05 ) . At follow-up , minorities in the control group continued to have more pain ( 6.4 vs 4.7 , P = 0.01 ) , whereas in the experimental group , disparities were eliminated ( 4.0 vs 4.3 , P = 0.71 ) . The effect of the intervention on reducing disparities was significant ( P = 0.04 ) . CONCLUSIONS Patient coaching offers promise as a means of reducing racial/ethnic disparities in pain control . Larger studies are needed to validate these findings and to explore possible mechanisms .
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Intervention_Educational
patient coaching
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Intervention_Educational
patient coaching
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Intervention_Educational
20-minute individualized education and coaching session to increase knowledge of pain self-management , to redress personal misconceptions about pain treatment , and to rehearse an individually scripted patient-physician dialog about pain control .
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Intervention_Educational
received
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Intervention_Control
standardized information on controlling pain
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Intervention_Educational
.
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Intervention_Educational
Patient coaching
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Outcome_Pain
disparities in pain control
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Outcome_Pain
pain control
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Outcome_Pain
average pain
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Outcome_Pain
pain
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Outcome_Pain
pain
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Outcome_Pain
racial/ethnic disparities in pain control
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Participant_Condition
Minority patients with cancer
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Participant_Condition
minority patients
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Participant_Sample-size
Sixty-seven
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Participant_Age
adult
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Participant_Condition
cancer outpatients
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Participant_Sample-size
15
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Participant_Condition
minority patients