Abstract 1869P
Background
Determine how pain influences cancer patients’ perception of health by analyzing the experience of the illness and opinions on the care received of a group of cancer patients with cancer pain and episodes of breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP) in natural conditions.
Methods
A descriptive, cross-sectional, multicentre and ecological study on 275 patients recruited by 47 geographically stratified oncologists on a national scale. Each patient's opinions and evaluation of the cancer pain symptoms and treatment were collected by means of an anonymous structured questionnaire. Each researcher added and transcribed the information provided by the patients (6) in an online database.
Results
A total of 275 patients (46.5% women) with mean age 62.4 years were included. The most common location of the primary tumour in the patients was the lung (28%), followed by the breast (15.3%) and the intestine/colon or rectum (13.1%). Active cancer pain symptoms were presented in 90.9% while 14% reported exclusive BTcP symptoms. A total of 46.2% referred to some peak intensity of pain ≥8 points (VAS 0 -10) in the previous 24 hours. Significant or total pain relief through painkillers was achieved in 69.4% of the patients, and 8 in 10 were satisfied with the treatment. Although almost all the patients (95%) claim to be satisfied with the information provided by their doctor regarding analgesic treatment, half of them (43%) were concerned that the treatment would create addiction or produce serious side effects.
Conclusions
Half of the cancer patients included in the study, without any apparent selection bias questioning their representativeness, experience high intensity pain on a daily basis, which may influence how they perceive quality of life. Despite the high level of satisfaction with analgesic treatment reported, almost a third of the patients do not manage to adequately control the pain. There is also a high degree of satisfaction with the specific information provided by the oncologist regarding the analgesic treatment. However, many patients show their concern regarding the overestimated risk of suffering addiction or severe side effects from the painkillers.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
ECO Foundation.
Funding
ECO Foundation.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.