Pain Severity, Social Functioning and Analgesic Patterns in Cancer Outpatients with Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study of 272 Patients in Türkiye

Background: Cancer pain is frequently undertreated, and its burden may track social and economic circumstances as well as clinical need; evidence from middle-income health systems is limited. Methods: Cross-sectional survey with prospective enrolment at a tertiary oncology outpatient clinic in Türkiye (January–April 2025). 272 adults with cancer reporting pain completed a 43-item investigator-developed questionnaire administered face to face; chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression were used. Results: Worst pain in the preceding week was moderate-to-severe (NRS ≥ 4) in 66.5% and severe (NRS ≥ 7) in 29.8%. Reported regimens were predominantly non-opioid: a grouped paracetamol/NSAID category formed part of the regimen for 80.9%, tramadol for 30.1% and a strong opioid for 6.2%. Strong-opioid use rose across mild, moderate and severe pain bands (2.3%, 5.1%, 12.5%; exact p = 0.005) but remained low. After adjustment for available covariates, personal income below the minimum wage was associated with moderate-to-severe pain (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.28–4.00) and self-reported complete social isolation with severe self-attributed quality-of-life impact (OR 8.75, 3.24–23.64). Conclusions: Higher pain severity, low income and social disruption co-occurred. Because outcomes were single pain-attributed items and disease stage was unrecorded, these associations are descriptive.