ノート
地域医療におけるがん疼痛管理に関する実態調査と問題点の検討
2008 年 34 巻 2 号 p. 156-164
詳細
2008 年 34 巻 2 号 p. 156-164
Although the pain of inpatients suffering from cancer inpatients can be effectively controlled with opioids and other medications by the palliative care team,the pain of many cancer outpatients receiving medication from community pharmacies remains unrelieved.The reasons for inadequate pain control have yet to be clarified but several studies suggest that patients’poor understanding of opioids or lack of instruction by pharmacists are behind it.
In order to determine the situation of pain control among cancer outpatients,we conducted a questionnaire survey of patients to whom opioids were dispensed by fifteen community pharmacies.The results showed that 23.3% of the patients achieved complete pain relief through the use of opioids,22.0% experienced partial pain relief and 54.7% received no benefit.We also discovered that 55% of these patients experienced the adverse effects of constipation,nausea and vomiting and that prescriptions for opioids given to some patients were inadequate.These results suggest that poor pain control is due to inadequate treatment by the primary care physician,especially with regard to opioid prescriptions,and insufficient instruction given to patients by community pharmacists.
