Characterization of chronic pain in breast cancer survivors using the McGill Pain Questionnaire

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to characterize pain in breast cancer survivors using the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ). A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with 30 women aged 30-80 years who had been submitted to treatment for breast cancer (surgery and complementary treatment) at least 12 months earlier with reports of pain related to the therapeutic procedures. Pain was characterized using the full-length version of the MPQ, which is made up of 78 descriptors divided into four categories: sensory (ten items), affective (five items), evaluative (one item) and miscellaneous (four items). Two indices were also used to measure pain through the use of the descriptors: the number of words chosen (NWC) and the pain rating index (PRI). The most frequent descriptive terms were "agonizing" (n = 16; 53.3%), "tugging" (n = 15; 50%), "sore" (n = 14; 46.7%), "wretched" (n = 14; 46.7%), "troublesome" (n = 13; 43.3%) and "spreading" (n = 11; 36.7%). The sensory category had the highest PRI value based on the descriptors chosen (mean: 0.41). Women with chronic pain following treatment for breast cancer employed the "agonizing", "tugging" and "sore" descriptors with greatest frequency and rated pain in the sensory category as having the greatest impact.