PAIN IN CHINESE CANCER-PATIENTS UNDER PALLIATIVE CARE

Over a 4-month period, 218 Chinese patients with advanced cancer were admitted to a palliative care unit in Hong Kong. Ninety-five (44%) of them had pain. Of these 95, 70 (mean age 61.7 years) were evaluated wi th the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the numerical rating scale (NRS ). Forty-two per cent of the 70 patients were illiterate. Eighty-three per cent had metastases. Eighty-seven per cent had pain due to the di sease process. Forty-nine per cent had more than one pain, 54% had mod erate pain and 20% had severe pain. The most common primary tumour was lung cancer. NRS scores strongly correlated with corresponding VAS sc ores, suggesting that NRS can routinely be used for pain intensity ass essment in the Chinese. The study also showed that 64% of these patien ts with pain had moderate to severe disabilities in the basic activity of daily living, although there was no correlation between the severi ty of pain and the severity of disability.