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Pharmacist-led medication education in cancer pain control: a multicentre randomized controlled study in Guangzhou,
Yan Wang1, Hongbing Huang, Yingtong Zeng
1Department of Pharmacy, Sixth People's Hospital South Campus, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
Objective:
To evaluate clinical pharmacist-led pain-medication education in patients with cancer.
Methods:
A controlled study was conducted prospectively at six tertiary hospitals in China. In-patients with cancer were randomized to receive conventional treatment plus medication education or no education (controls). Education consisted of access to information booklets and eight 30-min face-to-face counselling sessions given by clinical pharmacists over 4 weeks. Patients completed pain- and analgesic-knowledge assessments and a Brief Pain Inventory, pre- and post-study.
Results:
A total of 123 and 114 patients in the education and control groups, respectively, completed follow-up. At the end of the study, patient knowledge regarding cancer pain and pain control was significantly increased in both groups; pain and analgesic knowledge scores were significantly higher in the education group compared with controls. In the control group, the increase in total pain-related knowledge was significantly greater in analgesic-naïve patients compared with those who were using/had used analgesics. Pain intensity scores and pain interference of daily activities were significantly reduced in the education group compared with controls.
Conclusions:
Clinical pharmacist-led medication education resulted in improved pain control in patients with cancer.
