BACKGROUND: The predominant trend in cancer treatment now leans towards outpatient care, placing the responsibility of pain management largely on the patients themselves. Moreover, a significant portion of treatment for advanced cancer occurs in the home environment, so patient self-management becomes increasingly crucial for the effective treatment of cancer pain.
OBJECTIVES: To map self-management for pain in patients with cancer at all phases of the disease before examining the potential of pain self-care interventions for ill patients with cancer.
METHODS: A search was conducted on six electronic databases to locate studies published in English, from 2013 to 2023. We followed Arskey and O'Malley's Scoping Reviews guidelines.
RESULTS: This study thoroughly examined the provision of cancer pain self-management by healthcare professionals and identified four intervention types from 23 studies. Education emerged as the most prevalent form of self-management for cancer pain.
CONCLUSION: Guiding patients in managing their pain effectively, starting from their hospitalisation and extending to their discharge.
* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.