<![CDATA[Background: Pain related to breast cancer and its treatment affects physical, psychological, and social well-being throughout the illness trajectory, yet patients’ subjective experiences of pain, the strategies they use to manage it, and the outcomes they perceive remain insufficiently explored, particularly within Southeast Asian and Islamic cultural contexts.Purpose: This study aimed to explore the lived experience of pain management and its perceived outcomes among breast cancer patients, guided by the Symptom Management Theory (SMT), and to describe how these relate to participants’ clinical and sociocultural characteristics.Methods: A qualitative phenomenological design was used with twenty breast cancer patients (stage I–IV) purposively recruited from a general hospital and a palliative care house in Batu City, East Java, Indonesia. Data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews, direct observation, and family-member triangulation were analyzed using Colaizzi’s steps and thematic content analysis (initial and axial coding) with OpenCode 4.03; categories and themes were then mapped deductively onto the three SMT domains.Results: Three themes corresponded to the SMT domains: symptom experience (perception, evaluation, and emotional response to pain); symptom management strategies (opioid and non-opioid analgesics alongside compresses, prayer, and family support); and symptom outcomes (self-reported pain reduction, improved physical function, comfort, and holistic well-being). Participants’ age (41–76 years) and stage (65% early, 35% advanced) varied widely.Conclusion: The findings support the SMT as a framework for nursing practice and highlight the need for holistic, culturally sensitive, and family-centered pain management for breast cancer patients.]]>
