Pain management and its challenges in Iranian cancer patients: a mixed-method study.

OBJECTIVES: To identify and explain the challenges of effective pain management in patients with cancer in Iran.

DESIGN: A convergent mixed-methods study.

SETTING: Oncology departments and palliative care units across multiple healthcare institutions in Iran.

PARTICIPANTS: Quantitative phase: 320 healthcare providers, including anaesthesiologists, general practitioners, oncologists, nurses and pharmacists, selected via convenience sampling. Qualitative phase: 10 stakeholders, including patients, caregivers, policy makers and clinicians.

METHODS: Quantitative data were collected using a psychometrically validated 23-item questionnaire assessing knowledge, attitudes and perceived barriers to cancer pain management. Qualitative data were obtained through semistructured interviews and analysed using Graneheim and Lundman's content analysis method with MaxQDA software. Integration was performed using a side-by-side approach.

RESULTS: Quantitative data showed that over 65% of providers did not routinely assess pain, and only 29.1% believed pharmacological treatments were effective. Qualitative analysis identified 13 barriers across three domains-professional, patient and organisational-spanning physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions. Integrated findings revealed consistent patterns of underassessment, legal and cultural resistance and lack of interdisciplinary collaboration. These converging challenges highlight the need for holistic, system-level reform.

CONCLUSIONS: The convergence of quantitative and qualitative data reveals a multilayered system of barriers, professional, patient-related and organisational-rooted in physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions. These interlinked challenges contribute to fragmented pain management and limited interdisciplinary coordination. Addressing them requires a holistic reform strategy that integrates structural, cultural and clinical solutions.