Table 2.
Pain characterization with the Alberta Breakthrough Pain Assessment.
| Question | N | |
|---|---|---|
| Completed by the patients | ||
| Q1. Relationship to baseline pain | 190 | |
| Brief flare-up of baseline pain | 101 (53.2) | |
| Different from baseline pain | 69 (36.3) | |
| Not sure | 20 (10.5) | |
| Q2a. Last time experienced | 194 | |
| Today | 112 (57.7) | |
| Yesterday | 64 (33.0) | |
| Before then | 18 (9.3) | |
| Q3a. Frequency | 182 | |
| Mean (SD) | 2.9 (2.1) | |
| Q3b. Frequency | 182 | |
| Usual | 112 (62.6) | |
| Better | 15 (8.4) | |
| Worse | 52 (29.1) | |
| Q4a. Intensity of pain at peak | 195 | |
| Mean (SD) | 8.5 (1.5) | |
| Q4b. Intensity of pain at peak | 194 | |
| Mild | 3 (1.5) | |
| Moderate | 31 (16.0) | |
| Severe | 160 (82.5) | |
| Q5. Location (most frequent - ≥ 5%) | 195 | |
| Lumbar | 39 (20.0) | |
| Hips | 13 (6.7) | |
| Abdominal | 13 (6.7) | |
| Back | 12 (6.2) | |
| Thoracolumbar | 10 (5.1) | |
| Thoracic | 10 (5.1) | |
| Q6. Quality (Those present in ≥ 20%) | 195 | |
| Stabbing | 113 (57.9) | |
| Splitting | 58 (29.7) | |
| Sharp | 57 (29.2) | |
| Punishing-Cruel | 53 (27.2) | |
| Heavy | 52 (26.7) | |
| Hot-Burning | 50 (25.6) | |
| Fearful | 42 (21.5) | |
| Q7. Time from onset to peak intensity | 195 | |
| More than 0 and up to 10 minutes | 112 (57.4) | |
| More than 10 and up to 30 minutes | 47 (24.1) | |
| More than 30 minutes | 16 (8,2) | |
| It is hard to say exactly when it started | 20 (10.3) | |
| Q8. Time from onset [take medication] to end of episode | 192 | |
| More than 0 and up to 10 minutes | 36 (18.8) | |
| More than 10 and up to 30 minutes | 72 (37.5) | |
| More than 30 minutes | 64 (33.3) | |
| I am not on any breakthrough pain medication | 20 (10.4) | |
| Q9. Cause(s) (triggers) (Those present in ≥ 20%) | 195 | |
| Movement in bed | 65 (33.3) | |
| Walking | 62 (31.8) | |
| Standing | 58 (29.7) | |
| Sitting | 38 (19.5) | |
| Coughing | 38 (19.5) | |
| Q10. Predictability | 195 | |
| I can never predict when it will occur | 38 (19.5) | |
| I can rarely predict when it will occur | 34 (17.4) | |
| I can sometimes predict when it will occur | 40 (20.5) | |
| I can often predict when it will occur | 59 (30.3) | |
| I can always predict when it will occur | 24 (12.3) | |
| Q11. General relief (those present in ≈20% or more patients) | 195 | |
| Lying | 73 (37.4) | |
| Use of scheduled pain medication | 38 (19.5) | |
| Unsure | 38 (19.5) | |
| Completed by nurses/physicians | ||
| Q1. Etiology of breakthrough pain | 186 | |
| Pain related to the site of active cancer | 145 (78.0) | |
| Pain related to the whole body or cancer’s systemic effects | 11 (5.9) | |
| Pain related to anticancer treatment | 18 (9.7) | |
| Pain caused by a concurrent disorder | 9 (4.8) | |
| Unknown or uncertain at this time | 3 (1.6) | |
| Q2. Inferred pathophysiology of breakthrough pain | 186 | |
| Somatic nociceptive | 104 (55.9) | |
| Visceral nociceptive | 30 (16.1) | |
| Neuropathic | 37 (19.9) | |
| Unknown or uncertain at this time | 15 (8.1) | |
All figures are number of patients and percentage except otherwise indicated.
N, number of evaluable patients; SD, standard deviation.