Progress of cancer pain management in Korea

Cancer pain management had received relatively little attention until the late 1990s, when approximately 100,000 new cancer cases and 60,000 cancer deaths occurred each year in Korea. In 2001, a Cancer Pain Management Guideline was prepared for the first time by the Korean Society of Hospice and Palliative Care. This guideline facilitated cancer pain management by health professionals since then. In addition, cancer pain management has been included in the regular curriculum of all medical schools in Korea. The Korean Cancer Pain Assessment Tool, which was developed in 2003, has been accepted as a reliable and valid instrument for assessing cancer pain in Korea. The Korean version of quality of life assessment tools has also been accepted as a useful method. Oral short-acting opioids became available, along with other effective and convenient opioid drugs. The Korean government first published the Cancer Pain Management Guideline for health care professionals in 2004 and expanded the medical reimbursement criteria for cancer pain management, which reflect the government's support and interest in cancer pain care. The cancer pain surveys conducted in 2001 and 2006 demonstrated a significantly increased patient satisfaction on pain control (37% in 2001, n = 3,006 vs. 42% in 2006, n = 3,737, p = 0.003). Therefore, cancer pain management has been systematically approached both by health professionals as well as the government and resulted in a vast improvement in cancer pain control.