No evidence for sex differences in the severity and treatment of cancer pain.
While chronic pain is experienced by approximately 50-90% of patients with metastatic cancer, little is known about sex differences in chronic cancer pain. Therefore, the purposes of this study, in a sample of oncology outpatients (n=187) who were experiencing pain from bone metastasis, were: 1) to determine if there were sex differences in various pain characteristics, including pain intensity, and 2) to determine if there were sex differences in the prescription and consumption of analgesic medications. No significant sex differences were found in any of the baseline pain characteristics. In addition, no significant sex differences were found in analgesic prescriptions or intake of analgesic medications. Of note, men reported significantly higher pain interference scores for sexual activity than women. The study findings are important because they suggest that, unlike in acute pain, sex may not influence patients' perceptions of and responses to chronic cancer pain.
Edrington
Janet M
JM
School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA.
Paul
Steven
S
Dodd
Marylin
M
West
Claudia
C
Facione
Noreen
N
Tripathy
Debu
D
Koo
Peter
P
Schumacher
Karen
K
Miaskowski
Christine
C
D000368:Aged; D000700:Analgesics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000556:secondary; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors
D000700:Analgesics