Relationship between onset of pain relief and patient satisfaction with fentanyl pectin nasal spray for breakthrough pain in cancer.

Background: Satisfaction with pain relief in patients with breakthrough pain in cancer (BTPc) has typically been assessed by overall efficacy without consideration of the rapidity of that response.

Objective: To determine the relationship between speed of onset of pain relief and patient satisfaction for treated BTPc episodes overall and for individual treatments.

Design: Pooled data from two randomized, double-blinded crossover studies.

Setting/subjects: Patients having 1-4 BTPc episodes per day on ≥60 mg/day oral morphine or equivalent. Episodes treated with fentanyl pectin nasal spray (FPNS; 100-800 μg), immediate-release morphine sulfate (IRMS), or placebo.

Measurements: Pain intensity was measured on an 11-point scale (5-60 minutes posttreatment); satisfaction was measured on a 4-point scale (30 and 60 minutes). The primary analysis assessed the overall relationship of time to onset of pain relief (pain intensity difference [PID]≥1) or time to clinically meaningfully reduction in pain (PID≥2) versus patient satisfaction and overall pain intensity (summed pain intensity difference at 30 [SPID30] and 60 minutes [SPID60]) assessed by analysis of variance (ANOVA). A secondary analysis assessed whether satisfaction was different between treatments using a within-patient comparison.

Results: Eight hundred thirty-one FPNS-treated, 368 IRMS-treated, and 200 placebo-treated episodes were analyzed. Overall, within the pool there was a statistically significant relationship between time to onset of pain relief (PID≥1 and PID≥2) and patient satisfaction (both speed of relief and overall) at 30 and 60 minutes (p<0.001); this relationship was also true within individual treatment groups (p<0.01). Similar results were found for overall pain intensity reduction. When treatment groups were compared using within-patient data, FPNS provided earlier onset of pain relief than IRMS or placebo (p<0.05), which translated into better satisfaction at 60 minutes (p<0.01).

Conclusions: Earlier onset of pain relief resulted in greater patient satisfaction and overall relief of pain; between-treatment comparisons showed that FPNS provided earlier pain relief and greater satisfaction than IRMS or placebo.