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. 2014 Nov 18;4(1):24–31. doi: 10.1016/j.jbo.2014.11.001

Table 1.

A summary of articles using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) to assess QOL.

Article authors (year) Population and time of accrual Questionnaire administration Responders Non-responders Ref
Wu et al. (2006) July 2002–July 2005 Baseline and 4–6 weeks post treatment Overall pain response of 72% NA [11]
All patients treated with palliative radiation for bone metastases Significant reduction for all 7 functional interference items after treatment with greatest improvement seen in general activity
N=109



Harris et al. (2007) May 2003–June 2005 Baseline and 2 months post treatment Significant decrease in functional interference scores in general activity, normal work, enjoyment of life, and average functional interference No significant difference in functional interference scores [15]
All patients treated with palliative radiation for bone metastases Pain progression in 11%, 14%, and 13% (worst, average, current pain scores)
N=199 Overall response in 66%, 58%, and 54% for worst, average, and current pain scores, respectively No change in pain for 23%, 28%, and 31% (worst, average, current pain scores)



Hadi et al. (2008) May 2003–Jan 2007 Baseline and Months 1, 2, and 3 post treatment All symptom severities improved over time NA [4]
All patients treated with palliative radiation for bone metastases All symptoms except for mood, relations with others, and sleep were related to responders
N=348 Response rates of 56.5%, 57.5%, and 66.7% at weeks 4, 8, and 12 respectively



Nguyen et al. (2011) May 2003–June 2005 Baseline and Months 1, 2, and 3 post treatment All pain scores and functional interference scores improved over time All BPI scores were significantly improved following RT except for mood [1]
All patients treated for spinal metastases Mood was the only significant BPI functional item significantly related to responders
N=109



Khan et al. (2011) May 2003–June 2007 Baseline and months 1, 2, and 3 post treatment Improvement in sleep at week 4, 8, and 12 Improvement in sleep at weeks 4 and 8, worsened at week 12 [16]
Patients treated with radiation for bone metastases
N=400



Zeng et al. (2012) May 2003–June 2007 Baseline and each month for 6 months post treatment Improvement in pain and functional interference scores significantly related to responders, regardless of spine or non-spinal location, except for sleeping problems at month 2 and 4 NA [10]
Patients treated with radiation for bone metastases
N=386