Spring 2024 | Issue 11 | Page 4
Research Highlight : Collaboration in Action
Encouraged by a visit of a team of South African healthcare providers to UAB under the leadership of the late Professor Bongani Mayosi , the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town ( UCT ), Ursula Wesselmann MD , PhD , DTM & H ( Lond .), the William A . Lell , M . D . – Paul N . Samuelson , M . D . Endowed Professor of Anesthesiology at UAB in the Division of Pain Medicine , started a collaboration with her colleague Professor Romy Parker , Director of the Pain Management Unit at the University of Cape Town in South Africa , proposing a research approach similar to her NCI-funded grant on chronic pain in breast cancer survivors .
Globally , more women die of breast cancer than any other type of cancer . Approximately 600 000 women died of breast cancer in 2020 with the majority of these women living in sub-Saharan Africa . The increasing incidence of breast cancer is associated with increased survival as early detection programs are implemented and treatments are optimized . Pain and pain-related disability affect 25 – 80 % of the survivorship population . Living with chronic pain negatively impacts on quality of life , places greater financial demand on the individual and on the health system and may result in reduced activities and restricted participation in meaningful life roles .
Given the paucity of data on pain in breast cancer survivors in sub-Saharan Africa , the first goal of the UCT-UAB was to determine the prevalence of chronic pain in female breast cancer survivors in South Africa . The study was significantly delayed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic , but the collaborative team was finally able to publish the first results in November 2023 : Shabangu N , Thebe T , Casey M , Wesselmann U , Parker R . Chronic pain in female breast cancer survivors - prevalence , characteristics and contributing factors : a cross-sectional pilot study . BMC Womens Health . 2023 Nov 16 ; 23 ( 1 ): 613 . doi : 10.1186 / s12905- 023-02766-6 . PMID : 37974174 ; PMCID : PMC10655434 .
Dr . Ursula Wesselmann
D r . N e l i s i w e S h a b a n g u
D r . T s e l a n e T h e b e
D r . M i c h e l l e C a s e y
The data show that prevalence of chronic pain in this pilot study of breast cancer survivors in South Africa is 59 %. There was a correlation between low levels of income and the prevalence of chronic pain . The women with chronic pain had poorer health-related quality of life than those without pain .
The study results highlight that it will be important for clinicians managing breast cancer survivors to routinely assess for chronic pain at each clinical consultation to optimize the quality of life of these patients . These data will be used to guide larger cross-sectional studies to determine the prevalence of chronic pain in female breast
D r . R o m y P a r k e r
cancer survivors in South Africa and in the US and specifically in Alabama . Different countries can make major progress in patient outcomes by reciprocal learning between diverse settings to address the challenges faced by underserved populations . This will not be the first time that studies are aimed to translate lessons learned in sub-Saharan Africa back to Alabama and vice versa .
Authors of the study were : Dr . Nelisiwe Shabangu , Dr . Michelle Casey & Dr . Romy Parker : Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine , Faculty of Health Sciences , University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital . Cape Town , South Africa Dr . Tselane Thebe : Department of Oncology , Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital , Cape Town , South Africa Ursula Wesselmann MD , PhD , DTM & H ( Lond .): Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine , Division of Pain Medicine , and Department of Neurology , The University of Alabama at Birmingham , Birmingham , AL , USA