Balancing Pain Management Best Practices: A Review Opioid and Non-Opioid Strategies in Pain Management Strategies in Low-and- Middle Income Countries.

Abstract

The study assessed the availability and utilization of opioid and non-opioid pain management strategies in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), analyzing disparities, and challenges in accessing and adopting these strategies. Adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a rigorous methodology was employed, ensuring methodological transparency and comprehensive reporting. Inclusion criteria encompassed peer-reviewed publications from 2015 to 2023, focusing on LMIC-specific pain treatment techniques while excluding non-peer-reviewed literature and studies unrelated to LMICs or pain management. Using PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library, the search technique combined keywords and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms with careful consideration. Boolean operators optimized the search process by combining keywords to refine or broaden the search scope, ensuring the retrieval of relevant articles. Data analysis followed a thematic approach, as recommended by Braun and Clarke (2006), enabling the comprehensive synthesis of findings. The research highlighted complex global disparities in opioid availability, impacted by inadequate data, unequal access, and low priority on pain management. Factors such as patient fatalism, training insufficiencies, and cultural norms affected opioid use. There were issues with public understanding and awareness of non-opioid medications, mostly due to the impact of the mainstream media. This discrepancy underscores the need for a balanced, multi-faceted approach to address these issues in LMICs.

Keywords: Pain Management, Opioids, Non-Opioid Analgesics, Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), Healthcare Disparities

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/14-4-01

Publication date: May 30^th 2024