Pain and quality of life between smoking and nonsmoking patients with advanced lung cancer

Abstract

Background: Depression and smoking are common comorbid conditions among adults with chronic pain. There is growing empirical and clinical interest in purported associations between smoking and the aggravation of cancer symptoms. Methods: This study was to assess baseline levels of pain by BPI scale, depression by HAMD scale, and quality of life by EORTC QLQ-LC13 scale in a consecutive series of outpatient with advanced lung cancer. Results: From February 2013 through September 2014, Of the 326 patients with advance lung cancer pain evaluated in national Pain Management and research Center, China-Japan Friendship hospital, 42.6% (n = 139) reported being smokers, and 57.4% (n = 187) were never smokers. A multivariate analysis of covariance (smoking status, age, gender, education) revealed a main effect for pain severity (6.2 compared 5.4, P = 0.03), depressive symptoms ( 22.3 compared 18.8, P < 0.001) and quality of life (41.4 compared 36.6, P < 0.001). Smokers demonstrated higher pain severity, depressive symptoms, and quality of life compared with nonsmokers (P < 0.05 for all analyses). Conclusion: Smoking was associated with a worse chronic pain phenotype and quality of life in advanced lung cancer patients.