Table 3.
Responses to Questions on Current Practice in Assessment and Management of Cancer Pain
| How routinely does each of these practices takes place at your primary workplace? (Most of the time/always or nearly always) | (n=77)% |
| Use of breakthrough opioids in cancer patients receiving long-acting opioids | 99% |
| Use of bowel regimens in cancer patients receiving opioids | 96% |
| Follow-up of pain management for cancer patients | 97% |
| Scheduled pain medication for severe pain | 95% |
| Continuity of opioid doses across health care settings | 92% |
| Regular pain assessment in cancer patients | 91% |
| Routine assessment of pain in new cancer patients | 91% |
| Routine pain education for cancer patients | 83% |
| Use of a validated pain scale to assess cancer pain | 71% |
| How much of a barrier is each of the following at your primary workplace? (somewhat of a barrier/very substantial barrier) | (n=76)% |
| Difficulty accessing services that enable nonpharmacologic management of cancer pain | 83% |
| Lack of coordination across multiple providers | 78% |
| Challenges posed by comorbidities | 76% |
| Difficulty accessing interventional pain services | 71% |
| Impact of distance on ability to access pain-related services for patients | 62% |
| Inability to access ongoing data on pain and quality of life to monitor progress and outcomes | 62% |
| Lack of regular case reviews to critically discuss and evaluate pain assessment and management | 58% |
| Difficulty keeping abreast of advances from research | 58% |
| Inadequate remuneration for time spent (e.g., on multidisciplinary meetings) | 54% |
| Lack of benchmarks to assess improvement in quality of pain management over time | 54% |
| Difficulty accessing transport services for patients requiring management for cancer pain | 47% |
| Difficulty accessing acute pain services | 47% |
| Limited expertise in the assessment and management of cancer pain | 30% |
| Difficulty accessing palliative care services | 11% |
| What would improve cancer pain assessment and management at your primary workplace? (Check as many as apply) | (n=77)% |
| More patient education | 64% |
| More caregiver education | 62% |
| More training and access to information on pain assessment and management | 57% |
| Increase in dedicated clinician time | 55% |
| One or more clinical champion(s) | 42% |
| A more multidisciplinary approach | 39% |
| New mechanisms for evaluating outcomes | 18% |
| Policy changes | 10% |
| Unsure | 5% |