CLINICAL PHARMACIST INTERVENTION IN MANAGING PAIN AMONG PATIENTS WITH CANCER IN HIWA ONCOLOGY HOSPITAL

Authors

  • Tavan Abdulrahman Marf College of Pharmacy, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
  • Mohammed Omer Mohammed College of Medicine, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17656/jsmc.10297

Keywords:

Cancer pain, Clinical pharmacist intervention, Sulaimani

Abstract

Background 

Cancer patients are mostly suffering from pain during cancer treatments or after chemotherapy because pain management in cancer patients is not standardized, the clinical pharmacist takes a more effective role in the improvement of the drug treatment.

Objectives 

To study the role of clinical pharmacist intervention in pain management in cancer patients and compare them to the non-intervention group.

Patients and Methods

This is a cross-sectional study, conducted in Hiwa teaching hospital in Sulaimani from July 2019- January 2020, 200 patients participated in this study, they were divided into two groups randomly, the first group which includes (100 patients) with intervention by a clinical pharmacist and the second group (100 patients) was the control group with no intervention by a clinical pharmacist. All patients have malignancy and were suffering from cancer pain. They were assessed initially for their pain and followed-up for 4 weeks by direct interview or by telephone contact, the intervention group was further advised to manage any drug-related problems including (adverse effects of the drugs, dose modification, and changing drug in cooperation with the oncologist, also the patients were advised to have further adherence to the analgesic drugs. The process and outcome parameters of therapy were collected and analyzed, using SPSS-version 23.

Results

The pain scores in the intervention group were significantly improved compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of opioid and nonopioid adverse effects was significantly lower in the intervention group and they showed higher adherence to the analgesic drugs (P< 0.05) 

Conclusion

Clinical pharmacist has a positive role in managing the pain of patients suffering from cancer pain, also achieving better control of the pain and by minimizing adverse effects of the analgesics and increasing adherence to their medication.

References

Caraceni A, Shkodra M. Cancer pain assessment and classification. Cancers. 2019;11(4):510. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers11040510

Gutgsell T, Walsh D, Zhukovsky DS, Gonzales F, Lagman R. A prospective study of the pathophysiology and clinical characteristics of pain in a palliative medicine population. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®. 2003;20(2):140-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/104990910302000213

Van den Beuken-van Everdingen M, De Rijke J, Kessels A, Schouten H, Van Kleef M, Patijn J. Prevalence of pain in patients with cancer: a systematic review of the past 40 years. Annals of oncology. 2007;18(9):1437-49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdm056

Money S, Garber B. Management of cancer pain. Current Emergency and Hospital Medicine Reports. 2018;6(4):141-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40138-018-0170-9

Alghadir AH, Anwer S, Iqbal A, Iqbal ZA. Test-retest reliability, validity, and minimum detectable change of visual analog, numerical rating, and verbal rating scales for measurement of osteoarthritic knee pain. Journal of pain research. 2018;11:851. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S158847

Oldenmenger WH, van der Rijt CC. Feasibility of assessing patients’ acceptable pain in a randomized controlled trial on a patient pain education program. Palliative medicine. 2017;31(6):553-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0269216316664492

Chou W-C, Chen J-S, Hung C-Y, Lu C-H, Shao Y-Y, Chiou T-J, et al. A nationwide survey of adherence to analgesic drugs among cancer patients in Taiwan: prevalence, determinants, and impact on quality of life. Supportive Care in Cancer. 2019;27(8):2857-67. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4599-x

Thapa D, Rastogi V, Ahuja V. Cancer pain management-current status. Journal of anaesthesiology, clinical pharmacology. 2011;27(2):162. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0970-9185.81820

Culig J, Leppée M. From Morisky to Hill-bone; self-reports scales for measuring adherence to medication. Collegium antropologicum. 2014;38(1):55-62.

Wang Y, Huang H, Zeng Y, Wu J, Wang R, Ren B, et al. Pharmacist-led medication education in cancer pain control: a multicentre randomized controlled study in Guangzhou, China. Journal of international medical research. 2013;41(5):1462-72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0300060513491170

Yang Y-P, Ma Y-X, Huang Y, Zhao Y-Y, Xu F, Tian Y, et al. The good pain management (GPM) ward program in China and its impact on Chinese cancer patients: the SYSUCC experience. Chinese journal of cancer. 2014;33(7):323. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5732/cjc.014.10031

Liu J, Wang C, Chen X, Luo J, Xie J, Li S, et al. Evaluation of pharmacist interventions as part of a multidisciplinary cancer pain management team in a Chinese academic medical center. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. 2020;60(1):76-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2019.09.005

Chen J, Lu X-y, Wang W-j, Shen B, Ye Y, Jiang H, et al. Impact of a clinical pharmacist-led guidance team on cancer pain therapy in China: a prospective multicenter cohort study. Journal of pain and symptom management. 2014;48(4):500-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.10.015

Edwards Z, Bennett MI, Blenkinsopp A. A community pharmacist medicines optimisation service for patients with advanced cancer pain: a proof of concept study. International journal of clinical pharmacy. 2019;41(3):700-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-019-00820-8

Needham D, Wong I, Campion P. Evaluation of the effectiveness of UK community pharmacists' interventions in community palliative care. Palliative medicine. 2002;16(3):219-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1191/0269216302pm533oa

Miaskowski C, Dodd MJ, West C, Paul SM, Tripathy D, Koo P, et al. Lack of adherence with the analgesic regimen: a significant barrier to effective cancer pain management. Journal of clinical oncology. 2001;19(23):4275-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2001.19.23.4275

Published

2021-06-21

How to Cite

1.
Marf T, Mohammed M. CLINICAL PHARMACIST INTERVENTION IN MANAGING PAIN AMONG PATIENTS WITH CANCER IN HIWA ONCOLOGY HOSPITAL. JSMC [Internet]. 2021 Jun. 21 [cited 2024 Jun. 29];11(2):149-56. Available from: https://jsmc.univsul.edu.iq/index.php/jsmc/article/view/jsmc-10297

Similar Articles

1-10 of 410

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Most read articles by the same author(s)

1 2 3 > >>