FAIRFAX, Va -- September 09, 2008 -- Pain is one of the most common symptoms of patients with cancer, yet many of them are not receiving adequate therapy for the pain caused by their disease or treatments, according to a study in the September 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Radiation Oncology in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the Radiation Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, sought to determine the main reasons that patients fail to receive optimal pain therapy.
The authors used an Internet-based questionnaire to evaluate medication use in 106 patients on radiation therapy between November 2005 and April 2006. The survey included questions on pain control and attitudes toward pain medication, including prescription and over-the-counter pain medications.
Of the patients, 58% reported pain from their cancer treatment and 46% reported pain directly from their cancer. However, 80% of those patients said that they did not use medication to manage their pain.
Most patients said the main reason they did not take pain medication was because their healthcare provider did not recommend it. This reason was followed by a fear of addiction or dependence and the inability to pay. Some patients also reported using alternative therapies for pain relief, including physical therapy, massage, and acupuncture.
"To eliminate barriers to optimal pain management for cancer patients, healthcare providers should talk with their patients about pain symptoms and pain medications," said lead author Charles Simone, MD, Radiation Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute.
"At our institution we have taken these steps by transitioning to an electronic medical record system that has been designed to require an evaluation and documentation of patient pain levels and pain medication responses by healthcare providers at each patient encounter."
SOURCE: American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
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