Dataset Information

How well do medical oncologists manage chronic cancer pain? A national survey.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cancer pain is usually managed by oncologists, occasionally with input from specialists in hospice and palliative medicine (PLM) or pain medicine (PMD). We evaluated the knowledge of cancer pain management in these three specialty groups.

Methods

Eight vignettes depicting challenging scenarios of patients with poorly controlled pain were developed; each had five or six treatment choices. Respondents indicated choices likely to be safe and efficacious as "true" and choices likely to be unsafe or inefficacious as "false." Two questionnaires were created, each with four vignettes. Three anonymous mailings targeted geographically representative U.S. samples of 570 oncologists, 266 PMD specialists, and 280 PLM specialists, each randomly assigned one version of the questionnaire. Vignette scores were normalized to a 0-100 numeric rating scale (NRS); a score of 50 indicates that the number of correct choices equals the number of incorrect choices (consistent with guessing).

Results

Overall response rate was 49% (oncologists, 39%; PMD specialists, 48%; and PLM specialists, 70%). Average vignette score ranges were 53.2-66.5, 45.6-65.6, and 50.8-72.0 for oncologists, PMD specialists, and PLM specialists, respectively. Oncologists scored lower than PLM specialists on both questionnaires and lower than PMD specialists on one. On a 0-10 NRS, oncologists rated their ability to manage pain highly (median 7, with an interquartile range [IQR] of 5-8). Lower ratings were assigned to pain-related training in medical school (median 3, with an IQR of 2-5) and residency/fellowship (median 5, with an IQR of 4-7). Oncologists older than 46-47 years rated their training lower than younger oncologists.

Conclusion

These data suggest that oncologists and other medical specialists who manage cancer pain have knowledge deficiencies in cancer pain management. These gaps help clarify the need for pain management education.

SUBMITTER: Breuer B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4319627 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

How well do medical oncologists manage chronic cancer pain? A national survey.

Breuer Brenda B Chang Victor T VT Von Roenn Jamie H JH von Gunten Charles C Neugut Alfred I AI Kaplan Ronald R Wallenstein Sylvan S Portenoy Russell K RK

The oncologist 20150112 2

<h4>Background</h4>Cancer pain is usually managed by oncologists, occasionally with input from specialists in hospice and palliative medicine (PLM) or pain medicine (PMD). We evaluated the knowledge of cancer pain management in these three specialty groups.<h4>Methods</h4>Eight vignettes depicting challenging scenarios of patients with poorly controlled pain were developed; each had five or six treatment choices. Respondents indicated choices likely to be safe and efficacious as "true" and choic ...[more]

PMID: 25582140

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Dataset Information

How well do medical oncologists manage chronic cancer pain? A national survey.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

How well do medical oncologists manage chronic cancer pain? A national survey.

Similar Datasets

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