Myth:A patientís pain perception can accurately be correlated with vital sign changes and evidence of injury.

Myth:Patients in pain readily express their pain to health care providers.

Myth:Patients of certain cultural, ethnic, or socioeconomic backgrounds consistently underreport or over-report their pain.

Myth:Opioids are addictive and a treatment of last resort because of unmanageable side effects.

Myth:Patients experiencing chronic pain over-report pain because they are addicted to opioids.

Myth:Older patients, and cognitively impaired patients do not perceive pain as intensely as other patients.

Myth:If a patient is able to sleep, they must not be in very much pain.

Myth:The goal of chronic pain management is to keep the dose of medication as low as possible.

Myth:Patients with a history of substance abuse who require IV opioids should never be allowed to control their own dose of medication (i.e. patient controlled analgesia).

Myth: There is no physiological basis for the moderating effects of emotions on pain perception.