Efficacy of interrupted cyclic treatment with prednisolone on cancer pain: a randomized crossover study

Ain-Shams Journal of Anesthesiology

Table 2 Pain measurement variables (stage analysis)

Variable	Basal	14 days	P value	28 days	P value
VAS
Stage (A)-Glucocorticoid every 2nd day	4.49 ± 1.02	3.31 ± 0.83	≤ 0.001	3.1 ± 0.64	≤ 0.001
Stage (B)-Glucocorticoid every 4th day	3.59 ± 0.68	3.58 ± 0.55	0.453	3.74 ± 0.5.9	0.507
Pain severity score(PSS)
Stage (A)-Glucocorticoid every 2nd day	4.56 ± 0.75	3.7 ± 0.67	≤ 0.001	3.46 ± 0.52	≤ 0.001
Stage (B)-Glucocorticoid every 4th day	3.54 ± 0.38	3.54 ± 0. 43	0.678	3.62 ± 0.34	0.354
Pain interference score(PIS)
Stage (A)-Glucocorticoid every 2nd day	5.98 ± 1.58	5.26 ± 1.59	0.449	5.27 ± 1.43	0.213
Stage (B)-Glucocorticoid every 4th day	5.48 ± 1.36	5.38 ± 1.39	0.223	5.36 ± 1.39	0.663
Pain level score (PLS)
Stage (A)-Glucocorticoid every 2nd day	1.1 ± 0.307	1.1 ± 0.22	0.395	1.1 ± 0.38	0.432
Stage (B)-Glucocorticoid every 4th day	1.1 ± 0.35	1.2 ± 0.54	0.383	1.2 ± 0.54	0.383
Analgesia level score(ALS)
Stage (A)-Glucocorticoid every 2nd day	2.13 ± 0.34	2.13 ± 0.34	1	2.13 ± 0.34	1
Stage (B)-Glucocorticoid every 4th day	2.13 ± 0.34	2.13 ± 0.34	1	2.13 ± 0.34	1
Pain management index (PMI)
Stage (A)-Glucocorticoid every 2nd day	1.1 ± 0.35	1.1 ± 0.42	0.777	1.1 ± 0.46	0.572
Stage (B)-Glucocorticoid every 4th day	1.1 ± 0.51	1 ± 0.65	0.672	1 ± 0.65	0.672

Legend: this table shows significant decrease in VAS and PSSC after 14 days and 28 days compared to basal values after oral glucocorticoid dosing once a day every other day as adjuvant to WHO stepladder analgesics with no significant difference as regards PIS, PLS, ALS, and PMI. Data were in mean and standard deviation. Cross tab chi-square statistical test was used for comparison of non-parametric data and t test for parametric data. P value was significant if < 0.05. Linear regression analysis for prediction of VAS score 28 indicated that 21.6% of VAS score day 28 can be predicted by dose of 10mg given every 2 days (stage A) [R² = 0.216, F = 20.98, p ˂ 0.001]