Nearly 50 percent of colorectal cancer survivors have continued pain interference

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a recent study published in the journal Pain Medicine, researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham have found that almost half of colorectal cancer survivors with pain interference during the initial phase of care have continued pain interference after treatment.

For the study, researchers analyzed survey results from participants with colorectal cancer of the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium during the initial phase of care and follow-up.

They identified 2,961 patients during the initial phase and 2,303 patients during follow-up. Results showed that at baseline, 24.7% of participants reported moderate and high pain interference compared with 23.7% during follow-up.

For 46% of participants with baseline pain interference, pain interference was either the same or worse at follow-up. 

Researchers found that chemotherapy, comorbidities, depression, female gender, and radiation were associated with moderate and high pain interference at the time of diagnosis and during follow-up. On the other hand, older age was associated with improved pain interference.

The study also showed that those pulmonary disease or heart failure comorbidities had equivalent or increasing pain interference at follow-up.