Ovarian cancer pain management

Suitable for a Masters (preferably part-time) or Honours student. Some experience in biostatistics and data analysis is essential and a background in epidemiology and/or an interest in cancer are highly desirable.

Background

In Australia in 2022, around 1,815 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer and more than 1,000 lives were lost to the disease. Pain is the most common symptom experienced by ovarian cancer patients but there are limited data on the prevalence of pain and analgesic (non-opioid and opioid) use, and the relation between pain and quality of life, especially after cancer recurrence and towards the end of life.

Aim

To examine the prevalence of pain and analgesic use among women with ovarian cancer, changes in prevalence over time after completion of treatment to the end-of-life period, and the relation between pain, analgesic use and health-related quality-of-life and survival.

Methods

This project could include some/all of the following components:

(i) a literature review of the current evidence;

(ii) descriptive analyses of the prevalence of pain and analgesic use from diagnosis to the end-of-life period;

(iii) analyses to identify factors associated with inadequate pain management (persistent severe pain) and (iv) analyses of the relationship between pain, analgesic use and health-related quality-of-life and survival.

Analyses will use individual-level data from participants in the OPAL study who provided information about pain and analgesic use 3-monthly for the first year after diagnosis then annually to 4 years.