Cancer Patients Prefer Less Pain to Longer Life
By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter
Six out of 10 cancer patients would prefer less pain rather than live longer, according to a local survey.
The Korean Society for Hospice and Palliative Care announced Thursday that 60 percent of 3,245 cancer patients it surveyed said that they would rather choose to suffer less pain than extend their lives, an indication of the degree of pain cancer patients endure.
The survey was conducted through September 2006 with cancer patients at 63 hospitals across the nation.
Also, 59 percent of the respondents said that they suffer from pain more than once a day and 84.5 percent said that they would rather eliminate pain regardless of getting completely cured.
However, 37 percent said that they were not prescribed painkillers despite their pain.
``Many patients are afraid of using narcotic painkillers thinking that it might cause addiction. However, in the case of cancer patients experiencing serious pain, extended use of narcotic painkillers is not harmful. It’s important to inject painkillers at the right time to relieve pain,’’ said Hong Young-son, a doctor at Catholic University Hospital.
The survey showed that although large numbers of cancer patients endure enormous pain, few communicate the details with their doctors, fearing they would not be taken seriously.
While 68.5 percent of the respondents said that they would like to talk in more detail about their pain to their doctors, 84.9 percent said that they hope doctors would pay more attention to the pain they are going through.
As for the reasons patients were hesitant in communicating with doctors, 19.9 percent said that they are afraid of hearing from doctors that their disease has become worse while 19.4 percent said that doctors look too busy.
In a survey conducted in April of 189 doctors in charge of cancer patients, 83.5 percent of the respondents said that doctors tend to underestimate pain, which also indicates lack of communication between doctors and patients.