Observational studyBMC palliative care2020
Severe pain at the end of life: a population-level observational study.
Observational study in BMC palliative care, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Total Pain.Journal of palliative medicine · 2026Article
- Are there inequities in the assessment or management of pain for people with severe mental illness living with life-threatening diseases? A mixed-methods systematic review.Palliative care and social practice · 2026Review
- A Model of Death Preparedness in Patients With Advanced Cancer: A Grounded Theory Study.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Pain prevalence and pain relief in end-of-life care - a national registry study.BMC palliative care · 2024Article
- Safe Management of Adverse Effects Associated with Prescription Opioids in the Palliative Care Population: A Narrative Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Appropriate use of medication among home care adult cancer patients at end of life: a retrospective observational study.BMC palliative care · 2024Observational
- Pain Management at the End of Life in the Emergency Department: A Narrative Review of the Literature and a Practical Clinical Approach.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Knowledge, Perception and Barriers to Cancer Pain Management among Doctors in Malaysia.The Malaysian journal of medical sciences : MJMS · 2023Article
- Describing settings of care in the last 100 days of life for cancer decedents: a population-based descriptive study.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Perceptions and Knowledge Regarding Medical Situations at the End of Life among Older Adults in Switzerland.Journal of palliative medicine · 2023Observational
- Equity consideration in palliative care policies, programs, and evaluation: an analysis of selected federal and South Australian documents.BMC palliative care · 2022Review
- Epidemiology of Pain Among Patients with Solid Metastatic Cancer During the Last Year of Life.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- COVID-19 end-of-life care: symptoms and supportive therapy use in an Australian hospital.Internal medicine journal · 2021Article
- One chance to get it right: improving clinical handovers for better symptom control at the end of life.BMJ open quality · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPain is a prevalent symptom at the end of life and negatively impacts quality of life. Despite this, little population level data exist that describe pain frequency and associated factors at the end of life. The purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence of clinically significant pain at the end of life and identify predictors of increased pain.
methodsRetrospective population-level cohort study of all decedents in Ontario, Canada, from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2015 who received a home care assessment in the last 30 days of life (n = 20,349). Severe daily pain in the last 30 days of life using linked Ontario health administrative databases. Severe pain is defined using a validated pain scale combining pain frequency and intensity: daily pain of severe intensity.
resultsSevere daily pain was reported in 17.2% of 20,349 decedents. Increased risk of severe daily pain was observed in decedents who were female, younger and functionally impaired. Those who were cognitively impaired had a lower risk of reporting pain. Disease trajectory impacted pain; those who died of a terminal illness (i.e. cancer) were more likely to experience pain than those with frailty (odds ratio 1.66).
conclusionPain is a common fear of those contemplating end of life, but severe pain is reported in less than 1 in 5 of our population in the last month of life. Certain subpopulations may be more likely to report severe pain at the end of life and may benefit from earlier palliative care referral and intervention.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.