The Association Between Pain and Quality of Life for Patients With Cancer in an Outpatient Clinic, an Inpatient Oncology Ward, and Inpatient Palliative Care Units

Abstract

Purpose: This study was designed to clarify the association between pain and quality of life (QOL) of Japanese patients with cancer using a cancer-specific QOL scale (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer [EORTC] QLQ-C15-PAL) in 3 care settings (outpatient, inpatient, and palliative care units [PCUs]).

Methods: We examined the above-mentioned purpose for the total of 404 patients.

Results: In outpatients, physical, emotional functioning (EF), and global health status/QOL (QL item) were significantly correlated with average pain, and their correlation coefficients were -0.37 to -0.46 (P < .0001). In inpatients, they were -0.33 (P = .006), -0.26 (P = .030), and -0.31 (P = .012). In the PCU patients, they were -0.12 (P = .316), -0.30 (P = .009), and -0.28 (P = .015).

Conclusion: Patients' pain had an association with physical and emotional QOL, and the association was smaller in the PCU patients than the others.

Keywords: pain intensity; pain score; palliative care; patients with cancer; quality of health care; quality of life.