THE INFLUENCE OF CANCER PAIN ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH ADVANC ED CERVICAL CANCER: ONE - YEAR SINGLE CENTER EXPERI ENCE

The aim of the study was to investigate the incidence of pain in patients at various stages of inoperable cervical cancer, establish clinical phenotype of pain, as well as the degree of impact of pain on quality of life and its indicators. The study included 102 patients with a pathohistological finding of inoperable cervical cancer. A numerical scale (NRS) was used to determine the severity of the pain. The following parameters of quality of life were observed: appetite, sleep, mood, social interaction and general activity. Patients assessed the degree of pain on a scale from zero to ten for each of these parameters. By adding these values, the score (0-50) defining the quality of life was obtained. The impact of pain on the quality of life was determined before specific oncological treatment and three months after therapy. Before therapy, scores of pain effects on appetite, sleep, mood, social interaction, general activity, as well as quality of life were significantly higher in patients with severe and the worst possible pain than in patients with mild (ANOVA and Tukey test: p < 0.001) and moderate pain (p < 0.01). The score of impact of pain on the quality of life after therapy was significantly higher in patients with the worst possible pain (48.57 ± 1.81) than in patients with mild (4.50 ± 10.79; p < 0.001), moderate (15.56 ± 17.34; p < 0.001) and severe pain (17.61 ± 21.88; p < 0.01). Cancer pain reduces the motive for treatment, affects basic parameters such as appetite, sleep, mood, social interaction and general activity. All this significantly reduces the quality of life and performance status, both before and after the application of adequate therapeutic procedures. Acta Medica Medianae 2018;57(2):66-74.