American Pain Society’s Quality Improvement

Describe factors that influence the cost of uncontrolled pain. Identify issues that directly effect the cost of individual’s pain management therapies. Cancer Pain: A Public Health Problem It is postulated that 25 % of all patients with cancer throughout the world die without relief from severe pain. Cancer pain can be effectively treated in 85%-95% of patients with an integrated program of systemic, pharmacologic & anticancer therapy. Approximately 5%-10 % of patients with cancer related pain will have inadequate control of pain with orally administered medication at some time during the course of their illness