Physician education needs to focus on the proper assignment of pain , focusing on pain management delivered side effects, and focus on the usage of advanced medications. A proper understanding of the pharmacology of opioid analgesics is also needed. Pain doctors also need to educate patients to report pain and to effectively use the drugs that are prescribed for pain management .
The western Cooperative Oncology Pain Management Group conducted a groupwide survey to determine the numbers in play about cancer pain and its treatment among specialists practicing in Western institutions and to determine the methods of pain clinic treatment and content being used by these physicians.
A questionnaire was sent to all western pain clinic specialists with patient care responsibilities, practicing in university institutions, Community Oncology Programs.
A doctors cancer pain study developed by the Pain Clinic Research Group at the University of Texas was used. The study was designed to assess physicians' estimates of the amount of chronic pain as a specific problem for cancer patients, their research of the methods of cancer pain management , and their report of how they manage pain in their pain clinic setting.
In regard to the use of opiate pain medications for cancer pain in the United States, 77% report that the majority of pain patients were undermedicated. Only 33% believed pain clinic treatment was good or very good; Prophylactic side-effects of pain management should have been used more frequently in the chronic pain treatment plan. Research on side-effects management and tolerance were reported as limiting analgesic prescribing.