Cancer Patients Say No To Drugs
A new study found 80 percent of cancer patients who undergo radiation treatment do not take medications to fight pain.
Patients said addiction fears combined with cost helped them say no to painkillers.
According to the report, the most common reason given was that their healthcare provider had not recommended medication.
"To eliminate barriers to optimal pain management for cancer patients, healthcare providers should talk with their patients about pain symptoms and pain medications," said Dr. Charles Simone, from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
The current findings stem from an Internet-based questionnaire available through OncoLink. It examines analgesic use and pain control in cancer patients getting radiation treatment; data from 106 patients were included.
The report found 46 percent of patients reported pain related to the cancer itself, and 58 percent of subjects had pain from their treatment.
The findings were published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics.
Educational level was the only statistically significant factor linked to non-use of painkillers. Lower rates of use were also noted by whites compared with other races (16 percent vs. 32 percent) and by women than men (17 percent vs. 29 percent).
Patients with pain who did not to use analgesics many times tried alternative therapies.
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