A comparative study of patients with chronic pain in India and the United States

Pain is the most frequently reported symptom in the health care industry today. Chronic pain in the United States costs millions of dollars annually, and its financial impact is mounting. For individuals living in the United States, chronic pain affects nearly all normal activities and often leaves the person feeling helpless and hopeless. Literature supports the idea that chronic pain does not have the same debilitating effect in the Eastern cultures as it does in the Western cultures. Therefore, clients from both a Western and Eastern culture were studied. This qualitative research, based on grounded theory, sampled 20 persons from India and 20 from the United States. Focused, open-ended interviews were used as the major manner of gathering data. Although the condition of chronic pain was the same for each culture, there were significant differences regarding the phenomenon of chronic pain. This research indicates the need for health professionals to assess, implement a plan of care for, and evaluate patients' suffering and need for improved quality of life rather than focusing only on the elimination of pain.