Abstract
Background
Pain is reported to occur in the majority of patients
with advanced cancer varying with tumour type,
spread of disease and disease treatments (Bruera
and Portenoy 200�). Pain control is one of the main
reasons for referral to a hospital specialist palliative
care team. Yet despite this, there is limited research
into the effectiveness of the hospital specialist
palliative care team on pain control in cancer
patients.
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the
hospital specialist palliative care team on cancer
patient’s reported level of pain
Method
A non equivalent control group design using a
quota sample investigated 100 cancer patients who
had been admitted to a UK University Hospital for
symptom control. �0 patients received specialist
hospital palliative care team intervention,
compared with �0 patients receiving traditional
care. Outcome was assessed using the Palliative
Care Assessment (PACA) tool (Ellershaw et al 199�)
on three occasions (within 2� hours of admission/
diagnosis or referral to the palliative care team, day
� and day 7) that measured patients reported level
of pain.
Results and Discussion
The results indicated that cancer patients admitted
to hospital had a significant improvement in their
pain control. There was no difference between
the groups on the initial assessment of pain,
which allows comparisons to be made between
the groups. The patients who had the additional
input of the hospital specialist palliative care team
demonstrated a statistically significant greater
improvement than the control group (P<0.001).
Potential explanations are made for the results
including the enhanced knowledge and skills of the
hospital specialist palliative care team regarding
symptom assessment and management for cancer
patients
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 2006 |
Event | Royal College of Nursing (RCN) International Nursing Research Conference - York Racecourse, York, United Kingdom Duration: 21 Mar 2006 → 24 Mar 2006 |
Conference
Conference | Royal College of Nursing (RCN) International Nursing Research Conference |
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Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
City | York |
Period | 21/03/06 → 24/03/06 |