title: An epidemiological study of prevalence of pain in head & neck cancers.
abstract: This study was undertaken on 117 consecutive patients referred to a head and neck oncology clinic at a major hospital in New Delhi. 89.5 per cent patients were in clinical stage III or IV at the time of referral. The prevalence of pain was 83.8 per cent with a mean pain duration of 6.2 +/- 5.9 months and a mean pain intensity of 5.0 +/- 2.7 on a modified numerical rating scale ranging from 0 to 10. The mean intensity of pain was not significantly different for age groups or stage of the disease but patients with oro-pharyngeal cancers had significantly higher pain scores than patients with hypopharyngeal cancers (4.6 +/- 3.0 vs 2.9 +/- 2.5, P < 0.05).
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gnanasekaran
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires