Pain experience of cancer patients receiving care in a multidisciplinary pain management clinic

Background: Few longitudinal studies have focused on patients? cancer pain experience when receiving care in a multidisciplinary pain management clinic (MPMC). This study aimed to evaluate the experiences of a cohort of cancer patients newly engaged in a MPMC. Methods: This study was based on a longitudinal approach in which data were collected over a period of 6 months at the King Hussein Cancer Centre in Jordan. The study adopted the Arabic version of the Brief Pain Inventory to identify the level and prevalence of cancer pain, and to identify the impact of receiving care at MPMC on patients? pain experience. Data were collected over four points of time, and the period between these points ranged from 2 to 3 weeks. Results: The majority of patients demonstrated improvement in their pain after receiving treatment at MPMC, while a third still experienced severe pain. Significant improvement was reported at T1, and no further decline in pain was noted after this point. This indicates that exposure to the intervention provided by the MPMC generated, on average, an improvement in patients? pain experience. Conclusion: The MPMC may be used as part of effective pain management strategies in the treatment of cancer pain.