Episodic Cancer Pain: Patient Reporting, Prevalence, and Clinicodemographic Associations at Initial Cancer Pain Clinic Assessment

Table 5

Cancer pain characteristics of participants according to their incident pain status.

Characteristic	Incident pain^a		All patients	value
	Absent n = 190 (%)	Present n = 181 (%)	Total n = 371 (%)
Pain mechanisms and topography
Neuropathic component	42 (22.1)	78 (43.1)	120 (32.4)	<0.001
Nociceptive pain
Visceral	66 (34.7)	46 (25.4)	112 (30.2)	0.051
Bone	66 (34.7)	83 (45.9)	149 (40.2)	0.029
Soft tissue	103 (54.2)	115 (63.5)	218 (58.8)	0.068
Study-defined breakthrough pain present	82 (43.2)	58 (32.0)	140 (37.7)	0.027
Pain duration
≤1 month	36 (19.0)	29 (16.0)	65 (17.5)	0.459
>1 month	154 (81.1)	152 (84.0)	306 (82.5)
Principal pain location
Upper limb	19 (10.0)	20 (11.1)	39 (10.5)	0.233
Lower limb	20 (10.5)	30 (16.6)	50 (13.5)
Head and neck	44 (23.2)	46 (25.4)	90 (24.3)
Thorax	16 (8.4)	12 (6.6)	28 (7.6)
Breast	2 (1.1)	3 (1.7)	5 (1.4)
Back	18 (9.5)	22 (12.2)	40 (10.8)
Abdomen	31 (16.3)	19 (10.5)	50 (13.5)
Pelvis and perineum	24 (12.6)	23 (12.7)	47 (12.7)
Multiple sites	16 (8.4)	6 (3.3)	22 (5.9)
Brief Pain Inventory (BPI)
Worst pain	6.4 ± 3.1	8.4 ± 1.4	7.4 ± 2.6	<0.0001
Least pain	2.5 ± 2.1	3.5 ± 1.5	3.0 ± 1.9	<0.0001
Average pain	4.4 ± 2.2	5.5 ± 1.3	4.9 ± 1.9	<0.0001
Pain now	4.5 ± 3.0	6.3 ± 1.8	5.4 ± 2.6	<0.0001
Pain relief	53.7 ± 32.1	35.2 ± 22.2	44.7 ± 29.2	<0.0001
BPI pain interference
General activity	5.4 ± 2.6	5.4 ± 2.6	5.4 ± 2.6	0.959
Mood	7.5 ± 2.3	7.5 ± 2.6	7.5 ± 2.4	0.885
Walking	5.3 ± 2.7	5.4 ± 2.5	5.3 ± 2.6	0.734
Work	4.3 ± 2.8	4.8 ± 3.0	4.5 ± 2.9	0.127
Relations with people	2.9 ± 1.8	3.0 ± 2.0	3.0 ± 1.9	0.585
Sleep	4.7 ± 2.1	5.1 ± 1.7	4.9 ± 1.9	0.087
Enjoyment of life	7.6 ± 2.4	7.3 ± 2.5	7.4 ± 2.4	0.176

^aStudy-defined, based on history and on BPI scores.