Is There a Gender Difference in Painful Bone Metastases?

Abstract

Purpose. To examine if there were any gender differences in bone pain and its functional interference among patients referred for palliative radiotherapy. To investigate any gender differences in analgesic consumption and the response to radiation treatmen. Methods and Materials. Patients with bone metastases treated with palliative radiotherapy were interviewed using the Brief Pain Inventory at baseline, 1, 2, and 3 months following the radiation treatment. Patients were asked to rate on a scale of 0-10 their worst, average and current pain as well as how pain interfered with the following: general activity, mood, walking ability, normal work, relations with other people, sleep and enjoyment of life. Analgesic consumption in the previous 24 hours and other patient demographics were recorded too. Independent non-parametric Wilcoxon tests were used to evaluate for gender differences in quantitative variables. P value < 0.01 was considered statistically significant. Results. Between May 2003 and April 2005, 199 patients (102 males, 97 females) were accrued. The median Karnofsky Performance Status was 70 and the median age was 66 years. The most common primary cancer sites were prostate, breast and lung. Female reported more severe worst pain (mean 8.3 compared to 7.6 for males. p = 0.0081) even after adjustment of primary cancer sites. There was no gender difference in the functional interference scores, analgesic consumption, and the response to radiation treatment. Conclusion. Our finding of a gender difference in worst pain scores needs to be confirmed in larger studies.