For the study, researchers with the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. developed a pain assessment and management tool designed to alert providers of severe pain and encourage further evaluation of pain medication and potential side effects more frequently. The system consisted of a pen and paper chart used to record pain levels based on a traffic light system with red indicating severe pain. Researchers assessed pain levels for five days after hospital admission among 1,795 cancer patients. Patients were admitted to one of 19 U.K. cancer centers, 10 of which implemented the chart system.
The percentage of patients who experienced pain reduction over the five days at centers that used the chart increased from 47.7 percent to 54.1 percent. The number of patients at centers where the solution wasn’t implemented who experienced improvements in pain actually decreased from 50.6 percent to 46.4 percent.
“The findings of this trial add to the accumulating evidence for the efficacy of more integrated and systematic approaches to symptom management in patients with cancer,” wrote the study’s authors. “The implementation of [bedside chart] improved both prescribing practice and pain outcomes. Furthermore, it did not increase opioid-related adverse effects. This latter finding is important given concerns that the measurement of pain as a vital sign and linked opioid prescribing can be harmful.”
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