Nurse-led follow-up to outpatients with cancer pain treated with opioids at home—telephone calls plus WeChat versus telephone calls only: a quasi-experimental study

Background: Recently, cancer pain management has come increasingly to be provided in outpatient settings, requiring health-care providers and outpatients to take on responsibilities. Pain is among the most distressing symptoms of cancer. Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of nurse-led telephone calls plus WeChat versus telephone calls only for the pain management of outpatients with cancer. Methods: 231 outpatients with cancer pain were classified into two groups (group 1, N=125; group 2, N=106). Group 1 was followed up with weekly telephone calls for eight weeks, and group 2 with weekly telephone calls combined with the booklets through WeChat for eight weeks. Differences between groups in pain level, side effects, medication adherence, and satisfaction with pain management were analyzed, and statistical differences were tested usingan independent-sample t-test and a chi-squared test. Results: Group 2 had a significantly lower rest pain (p<0.01), and lower move pain but there was no statistical difference between the two groups. Among patients in group 2, constipation, nausea and vomiting, and dizziness were less (p<0.01), while medication adherence (p<0.05) and pain management satisfaction were higher (p<0.01) than patients in group 1. Conclusion: Nurse-led follow-up telephone calls combined with WeChat significantly reduced opioid-related health problems, such as pain intensity, side effects and medication adherence.