Patterns of advanced cancer pain in home hospice patients

The purpose of this descriptive study was to provide a description of advanced cancer pain in home hospice subjects. The McGill Pain Questionnaire, Parts 1 and 2, measured pain in a convenience sample of 76 patients who were terminally ill with cancer. Analysis of the McGill Pain Questionnaire Part 1 delineated the following mean scores: total score (11.24), number of words chosen (5.89), sensory (5.71), affective (3.07), evaluative (1.09), and miscellaneous (1.96). The Present Pain Intensity Scale revealed a mean of (1.66) for Part 2. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze choices from the 78 possible word selections that categorize the four dimensions of the McGill Pain Questionnaire: sensory, affective, evaluative, and miscellaneous. Subjects selected 444 words from these four pain components, and their rank order from the highest to the lowest numbers were sensory (227), affective (90), miscellaneous (75), and evaluative (52). Although a mean Present Pain Intensity score of 1.66 demonstrated good pain management, patients with advanced cancer in home hospice care chose words that described four main pain patterns: "tiring and exhausting" (11.5%), "troublesome and annoying" (8.8%), "dull and aching" (7.7%), and "nauseating and sickening" (6.8%).