Analysis of pain status and pain management of home ⁃based advanced cancer patients with pain

Objective To evaluate the severity of cancer⁃related pain and the adequacy of pain management in home⁃based advanced cancer patients with pain, and to examine whether the awareness of cancer diagnosis affected their pain severity. Methods A cross ⁃ sectional study was completed with a sample of 98 home ⁃ based advanced cancer patients with pain who first visited the Hospice of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from December, 2009 to June, 2010. Pain severity was measured by using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). Descriptive analysis was conducted for demographic and clinical data, t⁃test was performed to compare pain severity between 2 groups, those who knew their cancer diagnosis and those did not. Results Of 98 patients, 56.12% (55/98) were male and the mean age of patients was (61.08 ± 11.67) years old, 79.59% (78/98) of the patients reported moderate to severe pain during the past 24 h. 11.22% (11/98) of the patients were not receiving any analgesics at the time of the survey. There were 19.39% (19/98) patients receiving non⁃steroid anti⁃inflammatory drug (NSAID), 35.71% (35/98) receiving weak opioids and 33.67% (33/98) receiving strong opioids, and 39.80% (39/98) had a negative Pain Management Index (PMI). There were 46.94% (46/98) patients did not know their cancer diagnosis. No statistically significant differences in cancer pain severity were seen between 2 groups, those who knew their cancer diagnosis and those did not (P > 0.05, for all). Conclusion This study provides a representative view of pain status of home⁃based advanced cancer patients in China. The findings suggest that cancer pain management is insufficient in home⁃based advanced cancer with pain. Intensive analgesia should be given to these patients. Many factors may influence the pain severity and reduction, but honest disclosure of the cancer diagnosis to patients does not affect their severity of cancer pain. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2010.06.01