Journal of Education and Health Promotion

The survey of nurse’s knowledge and attitude toward cancer pain management: Application of Health Belief Model

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Hossein Shahnazi
. Hamid Saryazdi 1
. Gholamreza Sharifirad
. Akbar Hasanzadeh 2
. Abdurrahman Charkazi 3
. Mitra Moodi 4

1 Anesthesiology

2 Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan

3 Department of Public Health, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan

4 Department of Public Health, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran

Abstract
Background: Effective cancer pain management requires accurate knowledge, attitudes,
and assessment skills. The purpose of this study was to obtain information about the
knowledge and attitudes of nurses concerning cancer pain management with the use Health
Belief Model (HBM) as conceptual framework. Materials and Methods: The study was a
descriptive survey and included 98 randomly selected nurses from Alzahra hospital, Isfahan,
Iran. A self‑administered questionnaire which was designed on the basis of HBM was used
to collect the data. Knowledge, attitudes, and HBM constructs regarding cancer pain were
the main research variables. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS (version11.5) using
descriptive statistics, independent t–test, and Pearson correlation at the significant level of
α=0.05. Results: Ninety‑eight nurses aged 38.7 ± 7.04 years were studied in this survey. From
the 10 pain knowledge questions assessed, the mean number of correctly answered question
was 61.2 (SD=16.5), with a range of 30–100. There was a direct correlation between knowledge
and attitude of nurses with HBM constructs except for perceived barriers and perceived threat.
Among the HBM constructs, the highest score was related to self‑efficacy with mean score of
87.2 (SD=16.4). Conclusions: 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 the knowledge level of nursing about pain management.

Keywords

Attitude
cancer
Health Belief Model
knowledge
nurse
pain management
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 2, Issue 2
Summer 2012
Pages 1-4

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