Abstract:
The most prevalent and unpleasant symptom
that cancer patients encounter is pain. Pain is a
highly subjective feeling resulting from the
intricate interaction of bio-psycho-social
aspects of the individual. The study aims to
describe the correlates of severe pain in cancer
patients in Sri Lanka. Methods: The descriptive
study involved 384 cancer patients from
Apeksha Hospital, Maharagama. Patients over
18 years who experienced cancer pain for three
months or more, related to the primary lesion,
secondary lesions, radiation, or chemotherapy
were eligible. Patients whose pain is due to a
non-cancerous source, triggered under three
months of the assessment, and those who are
too frail or disoriented with evidence of brain
metastases are either unable or unwilling to
give informed consent were excluded. The
patients fulfilling inclusion criteria were
recruited using the consecutive sampling
method. The correlates of severe pain were
determined using logistic regression A validated
Sinhala version of the Short Form Brief Pain
Inventory and a pre-tested socio-demographic
questionnaire was used to collect data. The
correlates of severe pain were determined
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using logistic regression. Statistically significant
correlation was shown between severe pain
and ‘male gender’, (AOR=1.723; p=0.035);
‘being in marriage’ (AOR =1.947; p=0.026);
‘patients with no perceived family
commitments’ (AOR=1.8; p=0.013) and pain of
three months or more duration (AOR = 1.76;
p=0.021). In conclusion it is discovered that the
severe pain is positively correlated with males,
‘being in a marriage,’ ‘no perceived family
commitments, and in pain for over a three
months duration.
