title: Sex differences in the adequacy of pain management among patients referred to a multidisciplinary cancer pain clinic.
abstract: Few studies have evaluated sex differences in the adequacy of pain management in cancer. Existing studies have been marked by methodological limitations and results have been mixed. The present study sought to determine whether sex was associated with pain severity and pain management in cancer patients newly referred by their primary oncology team to a multidisciplinary cancer pain clinic. One hundred thirty-one cancer patients completed the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form and medical chart review was conducted to obtain patients' clinical characteristics and pain treatment data. There were no differences between males and females in ratings of worst pain in the last week. Females were significantly less likely to have been prescribed high potency opioids by their primary oncology team and significantly more likely to report inadequate pain management as measured by Pain Management Index scores. These results suggest a sex bias in the treatment of cancer pain and support the routine examination of the effect of sex in cancer pain research.
authors.affiliation: Health Outcomes and Behavior Program, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. kristine.donovan@moffitt.org
authors.forename: Kristine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.forename: Lindsay A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Taliaferro
authors.forename: Charles W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Brock
authors.forename: Sadaf
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bazargan
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018710:Pain Clinics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D059408:Pain Management; D011379:Prognosis; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016896:Treatment Outcome