(B-102) Assessment of Analgesic Utilization and Quality of Life in Cancer Patients: A cross-sectional survey

Background: Cancer pain is a persistent symptom that significantly reduces patients' quality of life (QoL) and daily functioning. Effective pain management is crucial for improving QoL in cancer patients. However, limited data exist on analgesic use among oncology patients and its impact on QoL

Objective: To evaluate the association between pain, analgesic use, and QoL in cancer patients at a Tertiary Health Institution

Method: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted over three months on 408 cancer patients attending the Outpatient Oncology Clinic at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. Inclusive criteria included eligible adult participants (≥18 years) with histologically confirmed cancer for at least three months, attending the clinic, and providing informed consent. Exclusion criteria included patients < 18 years, critically ill, pregnant, on life support, or unwilling to participate. Data on socio-demographics, cancer types, treatments, analgesic use (corticosteroids, NSAIDs, benzodiazepines, opioids, anticonvulsants, and neurostabilizers), pain characteristics, and severity were collected using a structured proforma. The main outcome measure was the prevalence of analgesic utilization and its effect on the quality of life QoL which was assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS® version 22.0, with regression analysis estimating the association between pain and QoL .A p-value was regarded statistically significant if less than 0.05.

Results: Fifty-eight percent (n=236) of participants reported satisfactory health, while 17% (n=68) rated their QoL as poor or very poor. Among females, breast cancer was the most common (51.7%, n=218), while prostate cancer predominated in males (5.9%, n=25). Analgesic use was prevalent in 89.9% of participants. Moderate to severe pain affected 70.1% (n=286) of patients. Those with moderate-to-severe pain had significantly poorer QoL than those with minimal or no pain (OR=0.12, 95% CI: 0.04-0.33). This association remained significant after adjusting for other factors, including analgesic use (OR=0.10, 95% CI: 0.03-0.29).

Conclusion: Moderate to severe pain significantly impacts the quality of life in cancer patients, and this association persists independent of analgesic use, highlighting the need for additional pain management strategies to enhance QoL in order to improve patient well-being.