The patient
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Multicenter Study
Assessment of a Stool Symptom Screener and Understanding the Opioid-Induced Constipation Symptom Experience.
Many patients with chronic opioid-induced constipation (OIC) seek treatment to relieve their symptoms. A symptom screener may be useful in identifying symptomatic OIC patients. ⋯ OIC patients understood this Stool Symptom Screener, and its content was relevant to this highly symptomatic patient sample. Pain and bloating may be considered as additional symptoms for future versions of the screener. An emerging conceptual model of the OIC experience, laxative use, and symptoms is presented.
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Patient-reported outcomes are increasingly recognized as important to understanding outcomes of medical interventions such as varicose vein surgery (VVS). Our aim was to compare positive outcomes of VVS as defined by several patient-reported measures, and to identify baseline characteristics associated with positive outcomes of VVS. ⋯ Defining surgery as successful will clearly depend on how health-related quality of life (HRQL) is operationalized and the criteria used to identify meaningful change. Across a range of criteria, a consistently greater proportion of patients had positive outcomes in terms of VV-related functioning (via AVVQ) compared with those who improved in terms of generic health (via EQ-index), or self-rated health (EQ-VAS).
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Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is the result of nerve damage in the toes, feet, or hands, causing loss of feeling or pain for up to 50% of patients. The purpose of this qualitative study was to assess the burden and impact of DPN pain (DPNP) symptoms on patient's functioning and well-being. ⋯ DPNP is a significant complication of diabetes with multiple impacts for patient functioning and well-being, which increase the burden of disease.
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The objective of this study was to assess the test-retest reliability of an interactive voice response (IVR) version of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30. ⋯ The measurement equivalence of the IVR and paper versions of the QLQ-C30 has been reported elsewhere. This analysis provides evidence demonstrating adequate test-retest reliability of the IVR version for 11 of the QLQ-C30's 15 scores.
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Little is known about the attributes of care that most strongly impact satisfaction in real-world settings where patients' limited medical knowledge may restrict their ability to ascertain the true quality of care. We therefore examined the association between patient-centered attributes of physician care (thoroughness, explanation, and listening), in-office waiting time, and patient satisfaction. ⋯ Thoroughness of care was the strongest determinant of patient satisfaction, followed by physician listening and explanation. Especially with patients' improved access to current medical information, it is important for physicians to recognize that excellent communication cannot serve as a substitute for high-quality, thorough care.