A survey of perceptions, attitudes, knowledge and practices of medical oncologists about cancer pain management in Spain.

Autor: García-Mata, Jesús, Álamo, Cecilio, de Castro, Javier, Contreras, Jorge, Gálvez, Rafael, Jara, Carlos, Llombart, Antonio, Pérez, Concepción, Sánchez, Pedro, Traseira, Susana, Cruz, Juan-Jesús
Zdroj: Clinical & Translational Oncology; Aug2018, Vol. 20 Issue 8, p1061-1071, 11p
Abstrakt: Purpose: To monitor oncologists’ perspective on cancer pain management.Methods: An anonymized survey was conducted in two waves. First, over a convenience sample of oncologists known to be particularly concerned with the management of pain. Second, using a random sample of oncologists.Results: In total, 73 and 82 oncologists participated in the first and second wave, respectively. Many oncologists reported to have good knowledge of analgesic drugs (95.9%), the mechanism of action of opioids (79.5%), and good skills to manage opioid-related bowel dysfunction (76.7%). Appropriate adjustment of background medication to manage breakthrough pain was reported by 95.5% of oncologists. Additionally, 87.7% (68.3% in the second wave, p = 0.035) of oncologists reported suitable opioid titration practices, and 90.4% reported to use co-adjuvant medications for neuropathic pain confidently. On the other hand, just 9.6% of oncologists participated in multidisciplinary pain management teams, and merely 30.3 and 27.1% reported to routinely collaborate with the Pain Clinics or involve other staff, respectively. Only 26.4% of the oncologists of the second wave gave priority to pain pathophysiology to decide therapies, and up to 75.6% reported difficulties in treating neuropathic pain. Significantly less oncologists of the second wave (82.9 vs. 94.5%, p = 0.001) used opioid rotation routinely.Conclusions: Unlike in previous surveys, medical oncologists reported in general good knowledge and few perceived limitations and barriers for pain management. However, multi-disciplinary management and collaboration with other specialists are still uncommon. Oncologists’ commitment to optimize pain management seems important to improve and maintain good practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index