[Pain in hospitalized teenagers suffering from neoplastic disease. Preliminary report]

The aim of this study was to perform a quantitative and qualitative assessment of pain in hospitalised teenagers suffering from neoplastic disease. Pain is a regular finding in patients with neoplasms and is classified according to its location, intensity, and type (character). Pain is a kind of stress that triggers mechanisms of psychological coping, interferes with activities of daily living, impairs social interactions, and adversely affects the psyche. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical and psychosocial context of pain in teenagers suffering from neoplastic disease.

We examined 40 patients with neoplasms aged 12 to 20 years. We recorded the location, duration, intensity, and character of pain, the impact of pain on activities of daily living, and ways of coping with pain. The following scales were used: visual analog scale (VAS), numerical rating scale (NRS), activities of daily living scale, pain questionnaire, pain coping questionnaire.

The results were analyzed statistically using quantitative, percentage, and rank tests. On the day of the examination, the patients reported pain in the lower limbs (27.5%), head (25%), and chest (17.5%). The intensity of pain was 5.75 on the VAS scale. Pain usually interfered with learning (4.22 on the 0-10 scale) and had a negative effect on mood (5.9 on the 0-10 scale). In describing their pain, the patients used words of the sensory (piercing, pulsating, shooting, stabbing) and emotional (tormenting, troublesome, disgusting) categories. The most common ways of coping with pain included: wishing that the pain disappeared (95% of children), telling parents about the pain (95%), asking for a drug (92.5%), and going to sleep (72.5%). The general health of the patients was established on the basis of the Karnofsky scale index which showed that 57.5% of them were in the upper and 42.5% were in middle categories of health.

All patients experienced pain which was chiefly the side-effect of chemotherapy and the outcome of the disease. Pain interfered to a minor degree (mean 3.42) with activities of daily living. The patients did not remain passive with their pain and made efforts in the cognitive, emotional, and voluntary spheres to reduce the intensity of pain. A pain assessment and management sheet should be devised for patients treated at pediatric oncology centers.