Background: Despite new methods and a variety of drugs, pain management in cancer is frequently unsatisfactory. Assessment of pain is accepted as an important way to improve treatment, but because it requires time consuming data-input processes that impact on daily clinical practice, its main use is in research.
Purpose: A comparative international (Israel and Italy) study, investigating daily pain control efficacy, using CPAC.
Method: Inpatient hospice data: analgesic treatment (opioid does were classified according to Tel Hashomer Dosage Classification), PRN medication (frequency and dosage), special treatments, QoL parameters and coanalgesic parameters were collected daily (using CPAC) at both units.
Results: Medication and techniques were very diverse. Although both centers used mostly morphine, the treatment schemes differed. Methadone was frequently used in Italy but not in Israel. There are differences in use of steroids, NSAIDs, and anti-convulsant drugs. Ongoing statistical work is aimed to show how these differences affect the timing of pain relief, and correlation between pain and dosage, mode of administering the medication, opioid side effects, QoL parameters, and the influence of cultural differences.
Conclusions: This workshop will discuss continuous assessment using a unique tool and will analyze the treatment differences aiming to establish a consensus regarding pain treatment. This unique tool stimulates high quality research and strengthens evidence-based palliative medicine.