Objective:
Evaluating the occurrence of pain and quality of life among cancer patients in palliative care.
Methods:
Cross-sectional study including 56 cancer patients in palliative care evaluated for reported pain (verbal, numerical and visual scales), analgesic treatment (adjuvants, weak opioids, strong opioids or non-opioids) and quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF).
Results:
Most patients (n = 53, 94.6%) used some type of analgesic drug and just over half (n = 30, 53.7%) reported pain. Considering the quality of life as consequence of pain intensity (mild, moderate or intense), treated with painkillers or not, it was observed that intense pain - the most common - had the worst score for the Physical domain. On the other hand, the Environment domain showed the highest score (77.4), regardless of reported pain or analgesic use.
Conclusion:
The results showed that the occurrence of pain affects the quality of life and compromises the daily life activities.
Pain; Palliative care; Nursing research; Nursing care; Oncology nursing; Quality of life