UCSF

The purposes of this study in oncology outpatients receiving chemotherapy (CTX), were to describe the occurrence of different types of pain (i.e., no pain, only cancer pain, only non-cancer pain, or both cancer and non-cancer pain) and to evaluate for differences in demographic, clinical, and symptom characteristics, as well as quality of life (QOL) among the four groups. Patients completed self-report questionnaires to evaluate demographic and symptom characteristics as well as QOL. Medical records were reviewed for disease and treatment information. Of the 926 patients in this study, 27.5% were categorized in the no pain group and 72.5% reported pain. Of the 671 who reported pain, 15.6% reported only non-cancer pain, 26.8% only cancer pain, and 30.1% both cancer and non-cancer pain. Across the three groups with pain, severity scores were in the moderate to severe range. Compared to the no pain group, patients with both cancer and non-cancer pain were significantly younger, more likely to be female, have a higher level of comorbidity and a poorer functional status. In addition, these patients reported higher levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, fatigue, sleep disturbance, decrements in energy, and attentional fatigue, as well as poorer QOL outcomes. Patients with only non-cancer pain were significantly older than the other three groups. The most common comorbidities in the non-cancer pain group were back pain, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and depression. Unrelieved cancer pain continues to be a significant problem. Patients need to be assessed for both cancer and non-cancer pain conditions.