Benefits of using the Brief Pain Inventory in patients with cancer pain: an intervention study conducted in Swedish hospitals

Abstract

Purpose The prevalence of cancer pain is too high. There is a need for improvement of pain management in cancer care. The aim of this study was to explore whether the use of the multidimensional pain assessment questionnaire Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) could improve pain relief in hospitalized patients with cancer. Methods A controlled intervention study was performed at two hospitals in western Sweden, 264 patients were included, 132 formed a control group and 132 an intervention group. All participants completed the BPI and the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) at baseline. Only the researcher had access to questionnaires from the control group. The completed forms from the intervention group were presented to the patients' care team. A follow-up took place after 2-5 days when patients in both groups rated the scales a second time. Results In the intervention group, significant differences in all measured items of the BPI were found at follow-up compared with baseline. Symptoms rated with the ESAS also decreased significantly, except shortness of breath. At follow-up, a significant increase in regular use of paracetamol, anti-neuropathic pain drugs and opioids was found, as well as elevated doses of fixedschedule opioids. In the control group, differences between baseline and follow-up were significant regarding average pain and worst pain over the past 24 h. Conclusion Presenting the patient-reported BPI to the care team helped them to focus on patients' pain, identify pain mechanisms and adjust analgesics accordingly. A possible explanation for the results is changes in the medication prescribed.

Evaluation of Health Care Professional Response To Patient-Reported Distress In Gynecologic Oncology Clinics At An Academic Cancer Centre

“…The HCP did not have access to the control group questionnaires. The study reported statistical signi cant improvement of symptoms on the follow up questionnaire compared with the baseline in the intervention group for almost all items of PPI and ESAS compared with the controlled group [22]. These results highlight the utility of symptom screening in routine clinical practice.…”

“…The most common intervention was a treatment recommendation (12/32, 38%), such as an opioid prescription (Table 2). 4 [12] 7 [22] The higher median total ESAS-r score, indicating greater global symptom burden, was associated with higher rate of both documentation (p = 0.002) and intervention (p < 0.001). For individual symptoms, higher ESAS-r score was associated with signi cantly more documentation and intervention for both pain and tiredness only (p < 0.05) (Fig.…”

Importance of Patient Education for At-home Yoga Practice in Women With Hormonal Therapy-induced Pain During Adjuvant Breast Cancer Treatment: A Feasibility Study

“…Therefore, the use of more elaborated multi-dimensional pain scales, such as Brief Pain Inventory would be in our view essential for future studies. 38 , 39 Indeed, management of HT-induced pain is multifactorial and the qualitative exploration of Galantino et al already indicated the importance of emerging themes, such as empowerment, community, sharing, and relieved stress. 40 …”

“…Therefore, the use of more elaborated multi-dimensional pain scales, such as Brief Pain Inventory would be in our view essential for future studies. 38,39 Indeed, management of HT-induced pain is multifactorial and the qualitative exploration of Galantino et al already indicated the importance of emerging themes, such as empowerment, community, sharing, and relieved stress. 40 Although the study was not designed to compare effects of yoga practice among patients under AI or TM, as indicated in the results section, there were not statistical differences with nonparametric tests between 2 groups for any of parameters studied.…”

Modified Kenalog Protocol for Perianal Fissures- A Quasi Experimental Trial

“…Sample size was calculated using data available from previous studies 11,13 This was calculated using 73% patients being symptoms free using the Kenalog protocol while another study showed at 2 weeks with conservative treatment, 11.7% 13 of patients were symptom free. The OpenEpi online software was used to calculate the sample size using these percentages, and a minimum sample size of 18 with the Fleiss method was calculated.…”