title: Alberta Breakthrough Pain Assessment Tool: A validation multicentre study in cancer patients with breakthrough pain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer-related breakthrough pain (BTP) is a common and quite challenging pain syndrome, with significant impact on quality of life. To date, no widely recognized and validated tool for the diagnosis and evaluation of BTP exists. The Alberta Breakthrough Pain Assessment Tool (ABPAT) underwent a validation process during its development, but no experience of its implementation in clinical practice has been reported.
  
  
  METHODS
  ABPAT was tested in a cohort of cancer patients suffering from chronic severe cancer-related pain in order to assess its acceptability and efficacy as a tool for the characterization of BTP.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of consecutive 249 patients from seven different centres were included in a 2-month study period and all completed the questionnaire; 231 out of the 249 (92.8%) stated that questions were easily understandable and 217 out of the 249 (87.1%) stated that the tool allowed to explain extensively the BTP problem. Physician-patient correlation tests about baseline BTP intensity and BTP relief by medication showed statistical significance at the level of p = 0.001 and p = 0.0001, respectively. Evaluation of the efficacy of BPT medication revealed a 78.2% of patients declaring a good relief from BTP, with a significant reduction of mean BTP numeric rating scale score (p = 0.0001), but only 55.9% of patients responded to be satisfied about time for onset of the relief.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, ABPAT resulted to be a well-accepted tool for BTP assessment and characterization in a relatively large cohort of cancer patients. It is effective in discovering the unmet needs of cancer patients and in exploring the outcomes of BTP treatment.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart - Little House of Divine Providence, Cottolego Hospital, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sperlinga
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, 'San Luigi Gonzaga', University of Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Campagna
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology, Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, 'Spedali Civili' Hospital, University of Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berruti
authors.affiliation: Hospice of Busca, Cuneo, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Laciura
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart - Little House of Divine Providence, Cottolego Hospital, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ginosa
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart - Little House of Divine Providence, Cottolego Hospital, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paoletti
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology, Department of Oncology, 'San Luigi Gonzaga' Hospital, Orbassano, Italy.
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Giuliano
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology, Department of Oncology, 'San Luigi Gonzaga' Hospital, Orbassano, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tucci
authors.affiliation: Cancer Epidemiology Unit, 'Città della Salute e della Scienza' Hospital, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosato
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology, Department of Oncology, 'San Luigi Gonzaga' Hospital, Orbassano, Italy.
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Scagliotti
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology, Department of Oncology, 'San Luigi Gonzaga' Hospital, Orbassano, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D059390:Breakthrough Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010166:Palliative Care; D010820:Physicians; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid