• Takuya Shinjo, Tatsuya Morita, Kei Hirai, Mitsunori Miyashita, Megumi Shimizu, Satoru Tsuneto, and Yasuo Shima.
• Shinjo Clinic, Kobe, Japan. Electronic address: shinjo@doctor.email.ne.jp.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2015 Jan 1;49(1):45-54.

ContextMany surveys have evaluated patient-related barriers to pain management.ObjectivesTo explore associations between a preference for opioids and general attitudes toward drugs, the experience and information received as a bereaved family, and beliefs regarding a good death.MethodsA cross-sectional survey, performed in 2010, of bereaved families of patients with cancer in palliative care units across Japan. Questionnaires were sent to 997 families.ResultsA total of 66% of families responded. Of these, 224 responses were excluded because the family declined to participate in the study (n = 38), the patient was not receiving any opioid analgesics, and there were missing data (n = 164), or data were missing for the primary end points (n = 22). Thus, 432 responses were finally analyzed (43%). In total, 26%, 41%, and 31% of family members stated that they strongly want to receive, want to receive, or slightly want to receive opioids if needed in the future, respectively. Determinants associated with a preference for receiving opioid treatment were the following: a general appreciation of the drugs (P = 0.005), witnessing an improvement in the patient's quality of life as a result of pain relief (P = 0.003), information provided by medical professionals that the opioid could be discontinued if side effects developed (P = 0.042), and the belief that a good death was one that was free from pain and physical distress (P < 0.001).ConclusionMore than 90% of bereaved families whose relatives were treated with opioid analgesics reported a preference to receive opioid analgesics for the treatment of cancer pain, if necessary, in the future.Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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