Abstract

Introduction: Cancer is the disease of cells and the cancer pain may be tangible from the very beginning stage of the disease in some of its types such as bone cancer or testicular cancer. However, pain is often a complication of advanced cancer. Aim: The present study aims to compare coping strategies and pain intensity between cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and healthy subjects. Methods: The present research was a descriptive-analytic study. The statistical population included all cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in Imam Ali Hospital of Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchestan Province and healthy people. Using the simple random sampling, 50 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and 50 healthy people (with equalization) were selected as the sample. The subjects were asked to fill out two questionnaires on coping strategy and pain intensity. Results: The results showed that there is a significant difference between cancer patients and healthy subjects in terms of pain intensity and avoidant, cognitive, emotion-focused, and problem-focused coping strategies (P<0.001). Conclusion: The study results revealed the importance and necessity of identifying the risk factors and ways of coping with them and timely prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. � 2017, Indian Journal of Public Health Research and Development. All rights reserved.