Can cancer patients influence the pain agenda in oncology outpatient consultations?

Pain in cancer patients is common, yet it is often inadequately managed. Although poor assessment has been implicated, how patients contribute to this process has not been explicated. This study aims to uncover patients' contributions to discussions about pain during oncology outpatient consultations. Seventy-four medical encounters were observed and audiotaped. Verbatim transcriptions of pain talk were examined using conversational analysis. Thirty-nine of 74 patients talked about pain with 15 different doctors during consultations for follow-up or active treatment. Patients' talk about pain varied consistently according to how pain talk was initiated. In 20 consultations where pain was put on the agenda by patients, they used communication tactics that emphasized their pain experiences, seemingly to attract and maintain their doctors' attention. These tactics appear necessary, as the cancer treatment agenda restricts opportunities for patients to have supportive care needs addressed. On the other hand, in 19 consultations where doctors elicited information about pain, patients used communication tactics that minimized their pain experiences, seemingly to conceal potential disease progression or recurrence, the very focus of these specialist consultations. Where cancer was implicated as the source of pain, chemotherapy or radiotherapy was offered, and where cancer was suspected, referrals for investigations were made. Two of the 20 patients appeared to influence the treatment-focused agenda and were given referrals to pain clinic rather than further cancer therapy as initially recommended.