Abstract:
Introduction
Cancer pain is complex, often mixed with varying presentations. Pain is a highly subjective
feeling resulting from the intricate interaction of bio-psycho-social aspects of the individual.
Perceived pain interferes with physical and psychosocial well-being. Lived experiences of
cancer patients are influenced by the severity, interference, and quality of pain.
Objective
The study aims to describe the proportion of severity, interference, and quality of cancerrelated pain among patients in Sri Lanka.
Methods
A descriptive cross-sectional study (n=384) was conducted at 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. The pain due to
non-cancerous sources that lasted for less than three months was excluded. The validated
Sinhala version of the Short Form Brief Pain Inventory and the Short Form McGill Pain
Questionaire-2 were used to collect data after obtaining the approval of the Ethics Review
Committee.
Results
The means of the worst and average pain scores were 7.97 (+ 1.94) and 4.63 (+ 1.57),
respectively. Among the participants, n = 281 (73.2%; CI- 68.5- 77.3) reported their worst pain
as severe, and n=173 (45.1%; CI- 40.1-50.0) reported their average pain as moderate. Pain
severely interfered with their normal work (n= 240, 62.5%) and sleep (n= 224, 58.3%). While
more than 35% reported severe interferences with their general activity, mood, walking
ability, and enjoyment of life. Among the qualities of pain, the highest proportion experienced
aching pain, (n=330, 85.9%) while the least proportion felt sharp pain, (n= 51, 13.3%).
Conclusions
The lived experiences of cancer pain are diverse and significantly impact the well-being of
cancer patients in Sri Lanka. The 'worst pain' experience of the majority was severe, and the
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pain severely influenced their 'normal works' and 'sleep'. Recommends giving due
consideration to lived experiences when planning treatment.
