Background Pain is a common symptom in patients with
multiple myeloma (MM). Many patients are dependent on
analgesics and in particular opioids, but there is limited information
on the impact of these drugs and their side effects on
health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
Method In a cross-sectional study, semi-structured interviews
were performed in 21 patients attending the hospital with
symptomatic MM on pain medications. HRQoL was measured
using items 29 and 30 of the European Organisation for
Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30.
Results Patients were able to recall a median of two (range
0–4) analgesics. They spontaneously identified a median
of two (range 1–5) side effects attributable to their analgesic
medications. Patients’ assessment of HRQoL based on
the EORTC QLQ-C30 questions 29/30 was mean 48.3
(95 % CI; 38.7–57.9) out of 100. Patients’ assessment of
their HRQoL in the hypothetical situation, in which they
would not experience any side effects from analgesics, was
significantly higher: 62.6 (53.5–71.7) (t test, p=0.001).
Conclusion This study provides, for the first time, evidence
that side effects of analgesics are common in symptomatic
MM and may result in a statistically and clinically significant
reduction of self-reported HRQoL.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)