The Contribution of Cancer-Specific Psychosocial Factors to the Pain Experience in Cancer Survivors.

The sample was small, with 41 participants, and all were from one cancer center survivorship program. The participants were mostly female, married or partnered, financially comfortable, and highly educated, so results may not apply to other cancer survivors. Most participants were long-term survivors, with 58.5% more than six years since diagnosis and treatment and 78.0% more than three years after treatment, which may make fear of recurrence or trauma less relevant than in earlier survivorship. Data were collected only at one time, so the study cannot show what causes pain interference or whether catastrophizing and pain sites change over time. The analysis tested whether cancer-specific factors added information beyond pain catastrophizing and number of pain sites, not whether those factors have no role in cancer pain.

The work was supported by NIH extramural research. The authors stated the content was solely their responsibility and did not necessarily represent the official views of NIH. No other conflicts were reported.

Do not read the null cancer-specific factors as proof that fear, distress, or trauma never affect cancer pain. The sample was small, mostly long-term survivors, and the analysis only tested whether these factors added information beyond catastrophizing and pain sites.