Integrating Cancer Patients’ Satisfaction with Rescue Medication in Pain Assessments

Abstract

A patient’s pain intensity rating alone is insuf cient grounds for determining the pain medication and dosage to administer daily. This study aimed to investigate whether a convenient assessment method could be developed that would reflect the effectiveness of an opioid analgesic on cancer patients’ pain management. We investigated pain intensity (worst, least, average, current) and the effectiveness of the opioid rescue medication in terms of patient satisfaction. This study used Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients to evaluate the relationships between patient satisfaction with rescue medication and both pain intensity and the medication’ s perceived effectiveness. Data from 60 participants with a mean age of 60.5± 11.4 years (range: 31-79 years) were analyzed. Thirty-eight (63.3%) participants were male, and 22 (36.7%) were female. The correlations found between rescue medication satisfaction and both the worst numerical rating scale (NRS) rating (r =-0.15, P=0.16) and the average NRS rating (r=-0.13, P=0.13) were not statistically signi cant. A signi cant positive correlation was observed between rescue medication satisfaction and the medication’s perceived effectiveness (r=0.79, P< 0.0001). Patient satisfaction with their rescue medication can be routinely assessed without imposing a signi cant burden on the patient. A new assessment method incorporating rescue medication satisfaction and pain intensity measures could allow routine pain assessments to re ect both pain intensity and the effectiveness of opioid analgesics. This new assessment method is potentially preferable to selfreported pain intensity and can identify patients for whom treatment is a priority. It also facilitates rapid dose adjustments and reduces the side effects of overdose due to unnecessary increases in opioid analgesics..