Frequency of Opioid Use in a Population of Cancer Patients During the Trajectory of the Disease

Judged by the use of opioids, moderate to severe pain is frequent throughout the trajectory of the cancer disease. The frequency of opioid use was in accordance with the frequency of moderate to severe cancer-related pain described in published studies. This completely population-based data set enables analyses of the actual practice regarding cancer patients' use of opioids, and it can serve as a more effective template for the management of cancer pain than the traditional measures, such as opioid consumption per capita, for international comparisons.