The perception of patients about pain, fatigue and stress

Pain, fatigue and stress are common symptoms of patients in treatment against cancer, but most of the times they are not taken into account as much as they should. 

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, by American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), researched the occurrence of these symptoms in oncology patients and their perception of the tratement they got. 

Method

The research was conducted with breast cancer patients, which represent 82% of the participants, as well as colon cancer patients, which comprise 18% of the participants. 

The universe was 2,487 questionnaires answered by patients in oncology clinics in the United States. 

Results

Out of all the patients interviewees, 76% affirmed having talked to the doctor about pain; 78%, about fatigue; 59%, about emotional stress. 

Out of the ones who affirmed having talked about pain, 70% got advice. Out of the ones who talked about fatigue, 61% got advice. Out of the ones who talked about stress, 54% got medical guidance. 

In the universe of the research, 61% of the interviewees mention they feel pain; 74%, pain; 61%, stress. Amongst the patients who show each symptom, 58% reported having gotten help to solve the pain; 54%, pain; 45%, stress. 

This research also showed that the patients who show these symptoms are more likely to talk about themselves and get advice. Besides that? The patients who had received — or had been receiving — treatment recently could mention more symptoms and had better care than the ones in treatment for a long time. 

Conclusion

In this research, 30 to 50% of the cancer patients in community centres did not report having discussed, getting advice or help as wished for pain, fatigue or stress.

This discovery shows there is room for improvement in dealing with these three common symptoms related to cancer. More conversation and advice among the ones who show these symptoms imply that discussions can be started by patients. Lower rates of conversation and advice among the ones who are far behind in their treatment show the need of evaluation among the long-term survivors, many of which keep on feeling those symptoms.  These findings seem to be especially important, given the high occurrence of these symptoms in our samples.