Abstract
Background: Studies have shown that in cancer patients one of the most frequently reported and feared symptoms is unpredictable and uncontrollable pain that drives the individual to desperation and distress. So, it is crucial and equally important to develop a tool that can document the pain experiences of adolescents with leukemia for better pain management and to cure the disease. Purpose: The current study was aimed to develop a scale for the assessment of cancer pain experiences of leukemia patients. Methodology: Initially total of thirty male and female patients were interviewed individually and an item pool of different pain statements explained by them was generated. After the exclusion of repeated and dubious items, the final list of 30 items was handed over to 10 experts for empirical validation. Twenty-five items out of thirty were found appropriate by the experts, and after computing the content validity index (CVI) 23 items were finalized in the final cancer pain assessment scale. To find reliability a pilot study was done by administering the newly developed scale (cancer pain assessment scale) on 125 cancer patients with prior permission. The outcomes of the pilot study suggested that the scales items were understandable and user-friendly. Results: By using Principle Component Factor Analysis through Varimax Rotation the results extracted three factors solution of the scale namely physical symptoms, physiological symptoms, and psychosomatic symptoms. Conclusion: The scale has satisfactory internal consistency and concurrent validity. Moreover, the study highlighted the physical and psychosomatic aspects of pain, the finding would help the clinicians to design pain management strategies accordingly as per our cultural understanding.
Key words: Keywords: Pain, Cancer, psychological effect, physical, psychosomatic, leukemia, depression, anxiousness, adolescence, sufferer,
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