Kwekkeboom, KristineSerlin, Ronald C.Ward, Sandra E.LeBlanc, Thomas W.Ogunseitan, AdeboyeCleary, James2024-04-012024-04-012021Kwekkeboom K, Serlin RC, Ward SE, LeBlanc TW, Ogunseitan A, Cleary J. Revisiting patient-related barriers to cancer pain management in the context of the US opioid crisis. Pain. 2021;162(6):1840-1847. doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002173https://hdl.handle.net/1805/39633Patient fear of addiction is a well-documented barrier to the use of analgesic medications for cancer pain control. Over the past 2 decades in the United States, an "opioid crisis" has arisen, accompanied by risk messages delivered through news outlets, public health education, and patient-provider communication. The purpose of this study was to determine if patient-related barriers to cancer pain management-specifically, fears of addiction-and related pain outcomes (pain severity, pain interference with daily life, and adequacy of pain management) have worsened over the last 20 years. A sample of 157 outpatients with active recurrent or active metastatic cancer completed the Barriers Questionnaire-II (BQ-II) and measures of pain and analgesic use. We identified 7 comparison studies published between 2002 and 2020 that reported patient-related barriers using the BQ-II. Significant linear relationships were found between later year of publication and greater fear of addiction (harmful effect subscale score, B = 0.0350, R2 = 0.0347, F1,637 = 23.19, P < 0.0001) and between year of publication and more pain management barriers overall (total BQ-II score, B = 0.039, R2 = 0.065, F1,923 = 73.79, P < 0.0001). Relationships between BQ-II scores (harmful effect and total) and pain outcomes did not change over time. Despite worsening in patient-related barriers, the proportion of patients with adequate vs inadequate analgesic use did not differ over time. Notably, 40% of participants reported inadequate analgesic use, a statistic that has not improved in 20 years. Additional research is necessary to clarify factors contributing to changing beliefs. Findings indicate a continuing need for clinical and possibly system/policy-level interventions to support adequate cancer pain management.en-USPublisher PolicyAnalgesicsCancer painNeoplasmsOpioid epidemicPainPain managementArticle