• Victoria Posternak, Laura B Dunn, Anand Dhruva, Steven M Paul, Judith Luce, Judy Mastick, Jon D Levine, Bradley E Aouizerat, Marylin Hammer, Fay Wright, and Christine Miaskowski.
• aDepartment of Physiological Nursing, School of Nursing, University of California, CA, USA bDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA cDepartment of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA dDepartment of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, New York University, New York, NY eSchool of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY fDivision of Acute Care/Health Systems, College of Nursing, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
• Pain. 2016 Apr 1; 157 (4): 892-900.

AbstractThe purposes of this study, in oncology outpatients receiving chemotherapy (n = 926), were to: describe the occurrence of different types of pain (ie, no pain, only noncancer pain [NCP], only cancer pain [CP], or both CP and NCP) and evaluate for differences in demographic, clinical, and symptom characteristics, and quality of life (QOL) among the 4 groups. Patients completed self-report questionnaires on demographic and symptom characteristics and QOL. Patients who had pain were asked to indicate if it was or was not related to their cancer or its treatment. Medical records were reviewed for information on cancer and its treatments. In this study, 72.5% of the patients reported pain. Of the 671 who reported pain, 21.5% reported only NCP, 37.0% only CP, and 41.5% both CP and NCP. Across the 3 pain groups, worst pain scores were in the moderate to severe range. Compared with the no pain group, patients with both CP and NCP 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 depression, anxiety, fatigue, and sleep disturbance; lower levels of energy and attentional function; and poorer QOL. Patients with only NCP were significantly older than the other 3 groups. The most common comorbidities in the NCP group were back pain, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and depression. Unrelieved CP and NCP continue to be significant problems. Oncology outpatients need to be assessed for both CP and NCP conditions.

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