Accuracy of a Diagnostic Algorithm to Diagnose Breakthrough Cancer Pain as Compared With Clinical Assessment.

Context: Breakthrough cancer pain (BTCP) is a heterogeneous condition, and there are no internationally agreed standardized criteria to diagnose it. There are published algorithms to assist with diagnosis, but these differ in content. There are no comparative data to support use.Objectives: To compa...

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Publicado en:Journal of Pain & Symptom Management Vol. 50; no. 4; pp. 495 - 501
Autores principales: Webber, Katherine, Davies, Andrew N., Cowie, Martin R.
Formato: research Journal Article
Publicado: Elsevier B.V. Oct2015
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Oct2015
      vid: 50
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      pub: Elsevier B.V.
      place: New York, New York
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        10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2015.05.006
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        atl: Accuracy of a Diagnostic Algorithm to Diagnose Breakthrough Cancer Pain as Compared With Clinical Assessment.
      aug:
        au:
          Webber, Katherine
          Davies, Andrew N.
          Cowie, Martin R.
        affil: St. Luke's Cancer Centre, Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford, United Kingdom
      sug:
        subj:
          Algorithms
          Breakthrough Pain Diagnosis
          Symptoms Diagnosis
          Neoplasms Diagnosis
          Pain Measurement Methods
          Neoplasms Physiopathology
          Breakthrough Pain Therapy
          Aged, 80 and Over
          Sensitivity and Specificity
          Prospective Studies
          Adult
          Male
          Breakthrough Pain Physiopathology
          Aged
          Middle Age
          Palliative Care Methods
          Female
          Great Britain
          Neoplasms Therapy
          Human
          Validation Studies
          Comparative Studies
          Evaluation Research
          Multicenter Studies
          Aged, 80 & over
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Aged: 65+ years
          Middle Aged: 45-64 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Context: Breakthrough cancer pain (BTCP) is a heterogeneous condition, and there are no internationally agreed standardized criteria to diagnose it. There are published algorithms to assist with diagnosis, but these differ in content. There are no comparative data to support use.Objectives: To compare the diagnostic ability of a simple algorithm against a comprehensive clinical assessment to diagnose BTCP and to assess if verbal rating descriptors can adequately discriminate controlled background pain.Methods: Patients with cancer pain completed a three-step algorithm with a researcher to determine if they had controlled background pain and BTCP. This was followed by a detailed pain consultation with a clinical specialist who was blinded to the algorithm results and determined an independent pain diagnosis. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated for the condition of BTCP. Further analysis determined which verbal pain severity descriptors corresponded with the condition of controlled background pain.Results: The algorithm had a sensitivity of 0.54 and a specificity of 0.76 in the identification of BTCP. The positive predictive value was 0.7, and the negative predictive value was 0.62. The sensitivity of a background pain severity rating of mild or less to accurately categorize controlled background pain was 0.69 compared with 0.97 for severity of moderate or less; however, this was balanced by a higher specificity rating for mild or less, 0.78 compared with 0.2.Conclusion: The diagnostic breakthrough pain algorithm had a good positive predictive value but limited sensitivity using a cutoff score of "mild" to define controlled background pain. When the cutoff level was changed to moderate, the sensitivity increased, but specificity reduced. A comprehensive clinical assessment remains the preferred method to diagnose BTCP.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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