A clinical survey on satisfaction of pain management in hospitalized patients with cancer in Taiwan

Aim/Background

Pain is a major problem for cancer patients, and poor pain control could impact on patients' quality of life (QoL). Satisfaction with physicians and treatments is important since it may influence decisions to medical plans. Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of pain and satisfaction with treatments and physicians in hospitalized patients with cancer in Taiwan.

Methods

637 hospitalized patients were enrolled in this multi-center survey. Participants were asked to complete the questionnaire to collect the information of Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), satisfaction with treatment and physicians.

Results

398 patients complained pain in the previous week. In these patients, 57.3% were reported cancer related pain and 27.0% were reported cancer treatment related pain. The mean pain severity score was 3.44 ± 1.83. 26.1% patients still suffered from pain during the previous week even they had no evidence of disease. The mean pain interference score was 4.06 ± 2.75. The prevalence of overall pain interference (≥4) was 49.0%. Among the evaluation of quality of life, sleep was 61.05% and highest in seven subsections. The satisfaction rates with physicians and treatments were similar (79.6% in physicians, 95% confidence interval, 76.5% ∼ 82.7%; 79.7% in treatments, 95% confidence interval, 76.6% ∼ 82.9%). Patients with lower pain intensity score had higher satisfaction rate both with physicians and treatments, as well as those with lower pain interference score. Table:

Conclusions

The prevalence of pain in this survey was 62.5%. The pain interferences in quality of life were addressed, especially in sleep. More than 79% of patients reported satisfaction over physicians and pain management in hospitalized patients with cancer pain in Taiwan.

Clinical trial identification

This survey was performed at 16 centers in Taiwan.

The protocol, amendments, informed consent form, and all other forms of patient information related to the study (e.g., case report form [CRF]) were reviewed and approved by Institutional Review Board.

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.