Prevalence and Management of Pain Among Cancer Patients at Uganda Cancer Institute.

Abstract

Introduction: Across the globe, the distribution of cancer is not uniform, attacking about a third of the world’s populace with Sub-Saharan region having a very high prevalence rate. Sub-Sahara region registers about 1.6 million new cancer cases, with 1.9 million cases on a particular form of medication, and about 600,000 deaths reported. Uganda registers about 28,000 new cases of cancer annually and Uganda Cancer Institute registers about 5.7 percentage rise in new cases of cancer annually. Pain is a major compelling factor, forcing patients to seek out an alternative to relief their pain The objective of the study was; to determine the number of patients that experience cancer pain at Uganda Cancer Institute, document pain management modalities received by patients and to determine patients’ satisfaction with pain management at Uganda Cancer Institute

Methodology: This study was conducted from Uganda Cancer Institute, located at Mulago National Referral Hospital. The researcher employed a descriptive cross-sectional study design utilizing non-probability, purposive sampling and a structured questionnaire with a brief pain inventory (BPI) tool in data collection. In data analysis, descriptive quantitative techniques of data analysis was done using stata 12.

Results: Mean age of the participants was 46 (SD=15.7). About 76.67% of the participants were Christians and 23.33% being Muslims, of the total participants 76.67% were married. 60 % of the participants reported footing their own medical bills and about only 3.33% were under insurance. The mean duration with cancer was 2 and half years (SD=2.4). 96.67% of the participants report experiencing pain in the past 24 hrs before enrollment into the study. Of this, 31.03% and 27.59% of the patients described their pain experience as distressing and discomforting respectively. 86.67% of those who reported pain, report taking some form of pain killers, 91.67% of this, report using morphine as their major drug for pain management and 8.33% diclofenac. 85.19% of the patients at Uganda Cancer Institute were dissatisfied with their pain relief.

Conclusion: The prevalence of pain among cancer patients is still very high, despite consistent palliative care efforts to reduce pain prevalence among this category of patients.