Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2011
Differences in sleep disturbance and fatigue between patients with breast and prostate cancer at the initiation of radiation therapy.
Little is known about the occurrence and severity of sleep disturbance and fatigue between patients with common cancer diagnoses. ⋯ Based on self-report, patients with breast cancer experience sleep disturbance more frequently and with greater severity than patients with prostate cancer. Objective measures of sleep disturbance suggest that prostate cancer patients have more severe sleep disturbance than breast cancer patients. All the patients experienced poor sleep quality and fatigue, which suggests that oncology patients need to be assessed for these symptoms.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2011
A new set of quality indicators for palliative care: process and results of the development trajectory.
In some countries (the United States in particular), quality indicators for palliative care have already been developed. However, these quality indicators often cover one specific setting or target group, for example, palliative cancer care or palliative home care. ⋯ As a result of these phases, a set of quality indicators for palliative care has been developed, consisting of 33 indicators for palliative patient care and 10 indicators for support for relatives before and/or after the patient's death.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2011
Pronociceptive pain modulation in patients with painful chemotherapy-induced polyneuropathy.
Several chemotherapy agents induce polyneuropathy that is painful for some patients, but not for others. We assumed that these differences might be attributable to varying patterns of pain modulation. ⋯ The painfulness of polyneuropathy is associated with a "pronociceptive" modulation pattern, which may be primary to the development of pain. The higher warm sensory thresholds in the painful polyneuropathy group suggest that the severity of polyneuropathy may be another factor in determining its painfulness.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2011
What influences patients' decisions on artificial hydration at the end of life? A Q-methodology study.
Artificial hydration (AH) is used to palliate patients with reduced fluid intake at the end of life but is a controversial practice. Patients' involvement in decision making varies, and little is known about patients' understanding of the benefits and burdens of AH. ⋯ Patients view AH as an important issue and are keen to be involved in decision making. Health care professionals may withhold AH at the end of life because they perceive it as a burden on patients and on their interactions with family, although this view is not shared by patients. Some patients lack understanding regarding the likely benefits of AH. Research examining the impact of clinical information regarding AH on patients' decision making is now needed.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2011
Comparative StudyComparison of the Constipation Assessment Scale and plain abdominal radiography in the assessment of constipation in advanced cancer patients.
Constipation is a distressing condition for advanced cancer patients and is frequently underdiagnosed. ⋯ Our study failed to yield a strong correlation between the CAS and the plain abdominal radiographic scores for constipation completed by three palliative medicine physicians. It is advisable that constipation in advanced cancer patients be assessed both clinically and radiographically.