Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2014
Review Meta Analysis Comparative StudyHow are patient populations characterized in studies investigating depression in advanced cancer? Results from a systematic literature review.
Prevalence rates of depression in patients with advanced cancer vary considerably. This may be because of heterogeneous samples and use of different assessment methods. Adequate sample descriptions and consistent use of measures are needed to be able to generalize research findings and apply them to clinical practice. ⋯ Current practice for describing sample characteristics and assessing depression varies greatly between studies. A more standardized practice is recommended to enhance the generalizability and utility of findings. Stakeholders are encouraged to work toward a common standard for sample descriptions.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2014
Multicenter StudyCross-sectional pilot study to monitor the availability, dispensed prices, and affordability of opioids around the globe.
Opioids are essential medicines. The World Health Organization and Health Action International monitor the price of essential medicines. However, their surveys do not include opioids, and there is no information on their affordability. ⋯ Patients in LMIC and LIC have limited access to opioids, and there are subsidies in place for more expensive medications and formulations in all GNI levels, but not for morphine oral solid IR. Additional research is necessary to identify the reasons behind these findings.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialCan senior volunteers deliver reminiscence and creative activity interventions? Results of the legacy intervention family enactment randomized controlled trial.
Palliative care patients and their family caregivers may have a foreshortened perspective of the time left to live, or the expectation of the patient's death in the near future. Patients and caregivers may report distress in physical, psychological, or existential/spiritual realms. ⋯ Delivery of the intervention by RSVs had a positive impact on palliative care patients' emotional symptoms and burden and caregivers' meaning in life. Meaningful prolonged engagement with palliative care patients and caregivers, possibly through alternative modes of treatment delivery such as continued RSV contact, may be necessary for maintenance of therapeutic effects.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2014
Comparative StudyLinking fatigue measures on a common reporting metric.
Fatigue is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms experienced by patients living with chronic conditions and is also commonly experienced in the general U.S. population. Linking fatigue scores from some of the most widely used measure of fatigue to the same metric will facilitate interpretation of fatigue outcomes. ⋯ Findings can facilitate comparison of scores across some of the most widely used fatigue measures and assist in comparing patient-reported fatigue outcomes in clinical trials, comparative effectiveness research, and clinical practice.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2014
Perceptions of health status and survival in patients with metastatic lung cancer.
Cognitive awareness of having a terminal illness is associated with critical treatment decisions and outcomes. However, little is known about the course and correlates of such perceptions in patients with metastatic lung cancer. ⋯ A minority of patients with metastatic NSCLC acknowledged being terminally ill. Those reporting that they were seriously and terminally ill had shorter survival compared with those who did not consider themselves terminally ill, even after adjusting for decline in physical and functional well-being.