Prospective Cohort Study to Investigate Chronic Pain After Breast Cancer Surgery

OBJECTIVES:

• Identify which preoperative psychological risk factors, after controlling for demographic and clinical factors, are associated with chronic pain at 4 and 9 months after breast cancer surgery.
• Assess the incidence of chronic pain at 4 and 9 months after breast cancer surgery.
• Determine whether pain status at 4 and 9 months after breast cancer surgery is associated with changes in psychological well-being and health-related quality of life over time.

OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study.

Patients complete a preoperative pain questionnaire that includes the McGill Pain Questionnaire, a full body map, and the self-report Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs scale. Only those patients with preoperative pain are asked to compete the full pain section of the questionnaire to assess location, severity, and type of pain. Acute postoperative pain during the first week after surgery is assessed using a visual analog scale (0-10). Patients then undergo telephone assessment of intensity and timing of acute pain 7 days after surgery. Subsequent postoperative pain assessments are conducted by mail using questionnaires at 4 and 9 months after surgery. Patients reporting chronic pain in the region of the surgical site are asked to complete the detailed pain section of the questionnaire.

Demographic variables, including age, education level, marital status, and body mass index, are recorded at baseline. Psychological (anxiety and exaggerated negative beliefs about pain) and quality-of-life outcomes are recorded at baseline and at 4 and 9 months postoperatively.