Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Assessment tools for the evaluation of pain in the oncology patient

  • Published:
Current Pain and Headache Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The control of cancer pain is an essential goal in the care of patients with cancer. Inadequate pain assessment by health care providers is a major risk factor for undertreatment of pain. Repeated and accurate pain assessment is required for optimal pain management. Pain assessment tools such as simple rating scales and short pain questionnaires can facilitate routine measurement of cancer-related pain in clinical and research settings. In addition to measuring pain intensity, it is important to determine the impact of pain on patients’ function, mood, and quality of life. Developmental issues must be considered when assessing the pain of children and elderly individuals with cancer. Novel technologies may be used to improve accurate and timely pain measurement.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References and Recommended Reading

  1. American Pain Society: Principles of Analgesic Use in the Treatment of Acute Pain and Cancer Pain. Glenview, IL: American Pain Society; 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Benedetti C, Brock C, Cleeland C, et al.: NCCN Practice Guidelines for Cancer Pain. Oncology (Williston Park) 2000, 14:135–150.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Jacox A, Carr DB, Payne R: New clinical-practice guidelines for the management of pain in patients with cancer. N Engl J Med 1994, 330:651–655.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Cancer Pain Relief and Palliative Care. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1996.

  5. Grond S, Zech D, Lynch J, et al.: Validation of World Health Organization guidelines for pain relief in head and neck cancer. A prospective study. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1993, 102:342–348.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Zech DF, Grond S, Lynch J, et al.: Validation of World Health Organization Guidelines for cancer pain relief: a 10-year prospective study. Pain 1995, 63:65–76.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Cleeland CS, Gonin R, Hatfield AK, et al.: Pain and its treatment in outpatients with metastatic cancer. N Engl J Med 1994, 330:592–596.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhukovsky DS, Gorowski E, Hausdorff J, et al.: Unmet analgesic needs in cancer patients. J Pain Symptom Manage 1995, 10:113–119.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. von Roenn JH, Cleeland CS, Gonin R, et al.: Physician attitudes and practice in cancer pain management. A survey from the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Ann Intern Med 1993, 119:121–126.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Anderson KO, Mendoza TR, Valero V, et al.: Minority cancer patients and their providers: pain management attitudes and practice. Cancer 2000, 88:1929–1938.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Cleeland CS, Janjan NA, Scott CB, et al.: Cancer pain management by radiotherapists: a survey of Radiation Therapy Oncology Group physicians. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2000, 47:203–208.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Anderson KO, Richman SP, Hurley J, et al.: Cancer pain management among underserved minority outpatients: perceived needs and barriers to optimal control. Cancer 2002, 94:2295–2304.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Serlin RC, Mendoza TR, Nakamura Y, et al.: When is cancer pain mild, moderate or severe? Grading pain severity by its interference with function. Pain 1995, 61:277–284.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Cleeland CS: Measurement of pain by subjective report. In Issues in Pain Measurement. Edited by Chapman CR, Loeser JD. New York: Raven Press; 1989:391–403.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Anderson KO, Syrjala KL, Cleeland CS: How to assess cancer pain. In Handbook of Pain Assessment. Edited by Turk DC, Melzack R. New York: Guilford Press; 2001:579–600.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Jensen MP: The validity and reliability of pain measures in adults with cancer. J. Pain 2003, 4:2–21.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Cleeland CS: Pain assessment. In Issues in Pain Management. Edited by Lipton S. New York: Raven Press; 1990:287–291.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Anderson KO, Cleeland CS: The assessment of cancer pain. In Cancer Pain: Assessment and Management. Edited by Bruera E, Portenoy RK. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 2003:51–66.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Ferraz MB, Quaresma MR, Aquino LR, et al.: Reliability of pain scales in the assessment of literate and illiterate patients with rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol 1990, 17:1022–1024.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. De CF, Caraceni A, Gamba A, et al.: Pain measurement in cancer patients: a comparison of six methods. Pain 1994, 57:161–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Homsi J, Walsh D, Rivera N, et al.: Symptom evaluation in palliative medicine: patient report vs systematic assessment. Support Care Cancer 2006, 14:444–453.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Turk DC, Dworkin RH, Allen RR, et al.: Core outcome domains for chronic pain clinical trials: IMMPACT recommendations. Pain 2003, 106:337–345.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Cleeland CS, Ryan KM: Pain assessment: global use of the Brief Pain Inventory. Ann Acad Med Singapore 1994, 23:129–138.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Fishman B, Pasternak S, Wallenstein SL, et al.: The Memorial Pain Assessment Card. A valid instrument for the evaluation of cancer pain. Cancer 1987, 60:1151–1158.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Melzack R: The short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire. Pain 1987, 30:191–197.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Turk DC, Monarch ES, Williams AD: Cancer patients in pain: considerations for assessing the whole person. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am 2002, 16:511–525.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Jensen MP, Dworkin RH, Gammaitoni AR, et al.: Assessment of pain quality in chronic neuropathic and nociceptive pain clinical trials with the Neuropathic Pain Scale. J Pain 2005, 6:98–106.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Patrick DL, Chiang YP: Measurement of health outcomes in treatment effectiveness evaluations: conceptual and methodological challenges. Med Care 2000, 38:II14–II25.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Aaronson NK, Ahmedzai S, Bergman B, et al.: The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30: a quality-of-life instrument for use in international clinical trials in oncology. J Natl Cancer Inst 1993, 85:365–376.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Sprangers MA, Cull A, Bjordal K, et al.: The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer. Approach to quality of life assessment: guidelines for developing questionnaire modules. EORTC Study Group on Quality of Life. Qual Life Res 1993, 2:287–295.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Schipper H, Clinch J, McMurray A, Levitt M: Measuring the quality of life of cancer patients: the Functional Living Index-Cancer: development and validation. J Clin Oncol 1984, 2:472–483.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Cella DF, Tulsky DS, Gray G, et al.: The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy scale: development and validation of the general measure. J Clin Oncol 1993, 11:570–579.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Ware J Jr, Kosinski M, Keller SD: A 12-item short-form health survey: construction of scales and preliminary tests of reliability and validity. Med Care 1996, 34:220–233.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Ware JE Jr, Sherbourne CD: The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36). I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Med Care 1992, 30:473–483.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Wang XS, Cleeland CS, Mendoza TR, et al.: The effects of pain severity on health-related quality of life: a study of Chinese cancer patients. Cancer 1999, 86:1848–1855.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Sloan JA, Aaronson N, Cappelleri JC, et al.: Assessing the clinical significance of single items relative to summated scores. Mayo Clin Proc 2002, 77:479–487.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Derogatis LR, Morrow GR, Fetting J, et al.: The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among cancer patients. JAMA 1983, 249:751–757.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Glover J, Dibble SL, Dodd MJ, Miaskowski C: Mood states of oncology outpatients: does pain make a difference? J Pain Symptom Manage 1995, 10:120–128.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. McNair D, Lorr M, Droppleman L: EdITS Manual for the Profile of Mood States. San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service; 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Cella DF, Jacobsen PB, Orav EJ, et al.: A brief POMS measure of distress for cancer patients. J Chronic Dis 1987, 40:939–942.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB: The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med 2001, 16:606–613.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Beck AT, Steer RA, Ball R, Ranieri W: Comparison of Beck Depression Inventories-IA and-II in psychiatric outpatients. J Pers Assess 1996, 67:588–597.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Cleeland CS, Mendoza TR, Wang XS, et al.: Assessing symptom distress in cancer patients: the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory. Cancer 2000, 89:1634–1646.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Cancer Pain Relief and Palliative Care in Children. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1998.

  45. McGrath PJ: Pain in Children. New York: Guilford; 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  46. McGrath PA, Seifert CE, Speechley KN, et al.: A new analogue scale for assessing children’s pain: an initial validation study. Pain 1996, 64:435–443.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Tarbell SE, Cohen IT, Marsh JL: The Toddler-Preschooler Postoperative Pain Scale: an observational scale for measuring postoperative pain in children aged 1–5. Preliminary report. Pain 1992, 50:273–280.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Zeltzer LK, Bush JP, Chen E, Riveral A: A psychobiologic approach to pediatric pain: part 1. History, physiology, and assessment strategies. Curr Probl Pediatr 1997, 27:225–253.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  49. Varni JW, Thompson KL, Hanson V: The Varni/Thompson Pediatric Pain Questionnaire. I. Chronic musculoskeletal pain in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Pain 1987, 28:27–38.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. McGrath PJ, Beyer J, Cleeland C, et al.: American Academy of Pediatrics Report of the Subcommittee on Assessment and Methodologic Issues in the Management of Pain in Childhood Cancer. Pediatrics 1990, 86:814–817.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  51. Yancik R: Cancer burden in the aged: an epidemiologic and demographic overview. Cancer 1997, 80:1273–1283.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Bernabei R, Gambassi G, Lapane K, et al.: Management of pain in elderly patients with cancer. SAGE Study Group. Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Drug Use via Epidemiology. JAMA 1998, 279:1877–1882.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Ferrell BA, Ferrell BR, Rivera L: Pain in cognitively impaired nursing home patients. J Pain Symptom Manage 1995, 10:591–598.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Lewis B, Lewis D, Cumming G: Frequent measurement of chronic pain: an electronic diary and empirical findings. Pain 1995, 60:341–347.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  55. Chandler S, Payne R: Computerized tools to assess and manage cancer pain. Highlights Oncol Pract 1997, 14:114–117.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Symptom Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1100 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 221, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Karen O. Anderson PhD, MPH

Authors
  1. Karen O. Anderson PhD, MPH
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karen O. Anderson PhD, MPH.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Anderson, K.O. Assessment tools for the evaluation of pain in the oncology patient. Current Science Inc 11, 259–264 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-007-0201-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-007-0201-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation