The Association Between Pain and Quality of Life for Patients With Cancer in an Outpatient Clinic, an Inpatient Oncology Ward, and Inpatient Palliative Care Units

Abstract

Purpose: This study was designed to clarify the association between pain and quality of life (QOL) of Japanese patients with cancer using a cancer-specific QOL scale (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer [EORTC] QLQ-C15-PAL) in 3 care settings (outpatient, inpatient, and palliative care units [PCUs]). Methods: We examined the above-mentioned purpose for the total of 404 patients. Results: In outpatients, physical, emotional functioning (EF), and global health status/QOL (QL item) were significantly correlated with average pain, and their correlation coefficients were −0.37 to −0.46 ( P < .0001). In inpatients, they were −0.33 ( P = .006), −0.26 ( P = .030), and −0.31 ( P = .012). In the PCU patients, they were −0.12 ( P = .316), −0.30 ( P = .009), and −0.28 ( P = .015). Conclusion: Patients’ pain had an association with physical and emotional QOL, and the association was smaller in the PCU patients than the others.