Arm pain during breast cancer treatment

Abstract

The purpose of this secondary analysis of data from the Self-Help Intervention Project(SHIP) was to determine the incidence of arm pain and the associated burden. The incidence of arm pain during breast cancer therapy was experienced by sixty seven percent of the patients in this study (n=307) . In addition, twenty six percent of these patients rated their arm pain as burdensome. Patients with early stages of disease actually had less pain than patients with more advanced disease. Patients who received axillary node dissection had more arm pain and rated their pain as significantly more burdensome than those patients who did not receive axillary node dissection (p=.002). Arm pain was not found to be statistically significantly different for patients who received or did not receive chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. More patients under the age of fifty experienced arm pain, yet, more women over fifty rated their pain as burdensome (p=.007). This study found no significant correlation between arm pain and the patient's psychological adjustment, self help, self care, or life quality.