Pain Acceptance: A Concept Analysis.

Abstract

Background: Chronic pain exhibits a high prevalence worldwide, placing a considerable burden on global health system. It is an urgent problem how to effectively manage chronic pain. As a notable component of positive psychology, pain acceptance plays an important role in promoting adaption to chronic pain. Pain acceptance has been studied for more than two decades, and different perspectives exist. It is warranted to clarify the concept of pain acceptance based on the most recent literature.

Objective: To explore the concept of pain acceptance in the context of chronic pain and understand how it contributes to patients' well-being.

Design: Concept analysis.

Methods: The Walker and Avant's concept analysis strategy was utilized. Six databases of Pubmed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Science Direct, Springer Link and ProQuest were searched and 59 studies were eventually included and analyzed.

Results: We found that the defining attributes of pain acceptance were pain coexistence, pain willingness and activity engagement. Antecedents were identified as demographic factors, pain condition, psychological or cognitive responses, personality traits or cultural background, behavior responses and social interactions. More importantly, pain acceptance prospectively predicts better physical function, mental well-being, social function, overall quality of life and lower medical consumption.

Conclusions: The theoretical definition of pain acceptance is established in this study, which provides a reference to understand the role of pain acceptance in chronic pain management. This study may serve as a potential foundation for future research of pain acceptance, thereby adding scientific value for pain acceptance in nursing practice.