CANCER PAIN - RESEARCH FROM MULTIDIMENSIONAL AND ILLNESS REPRESENTATION MODELS

Cancer pain is a widespread problem that impacts the quality of life o f a significant proportion of patients with various types of cancer. D espite recognition of the complex nature of cancer pain, the bulk of t he research in the area continues to be conducted from a biomedical pe rspective. Two models have been applied to pain in general and cancer pain in particular. the multidimensional model and the illness represe ntation model. The multidimensional model provides an overarching fram ework with which to conceptualize the multiple components of cancer pa in (physiological, sensory, behavioral, affective, cognitive, sociocul tural) whereas the illness representation model focuses on patients' m odels of illness and the manner in which these models influence percep tion and behavior. The purpose of the current manuscript is to integra te research from multidimensional and illness representation models of pain and provide suggestions for future research.