【Introduction】Pain is among the most common symptoms of cancer. It increases in prevalence and intensity as the disease progresses and it impacts multiple domains of a patient’s quality of life. Concerning pain as a result of cancer, there is much research about the patient’s amount of pain using the Numerical rating scale (NRS), or in respect to emotions, using the Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). However, little is known about the influence of the patient's individual cognition and individual view of pain. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the effect of cancer patient’s individual cognition and individual view to pain on the reduction of the patient’s pain in the future.
【Methods】We prospectively analyzed 48 patients (male 25) experiencing pain as a result of cancer. The subjects of this study were cancer patients who went to our hospital regularly or were hospitalized between September 2009 and January 2011. Morphine treatment was performed according to the standard method including titration(NCCN GuidelinesTM, Adult Cancer Pain).We investigated if the patient's prediction of their recovery affects their pain throughout treatment.
【Results】Patients who thought their pain would lessen on Day1 had a chance of pain reduction on the NRS on Day8 (P= 0.008). We also examined the relation between "the mental condition before medical treatment" and “a chance of their pain lessening”. There were moderately strong correlation coefficients (r= -0.407, P< 0.01) between “the recognition of getting better on Day1” and “a high HADS-D score on Day1”, and mild correlation coefficients (r= -0.333, P< 0.05) between “the recognition of getting better on Day1” and “a high HADS-A score on Day1”.
【Conclusion】Our results suggest the patients who think their pain will lessen in the future could experience a reduction of pain.