Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2015
Multicenter StudyValidation of the Simplified Palliative Prognostic Index Using a Single Item From the Communication Capacity Scale.
Although the Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) is a reliable and validated tool to predict the survival of terminally ill cancer patients, all clinicians cannot always precisely diagnose delirium. ⋯ The simplified PPI showed essentially the same predictive value as the original PPI and is an alternative when clinicians have difficulties in diagnosing delirium.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2015
Symptom Expression in the Last Seven Days of Life Among Cancer Patients Admitted to Acute Palliative Care Units.
The symptom burden in the last week of life of patients with advanced cancer has not been well characterized. ⋯ Despite intensive management in APCUs, some cancer patients continue to experience high symptom burden as they approached death.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2015
Validation of the Arabic Version of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Among Lebanese Cancer Patients.
To our knowledge, there have been no previous attempts to translate the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS) into the Arabic language and validate it among the Arab cancer population. ⋯ The MSAS-Leb has acceptable psychometric properties of reliability and validity. We recommend its use in clinical practice and outpatient settings among health care professionals to assess and follow-up on symptom burden among patients diagnosed with cancer.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2015
Palliative Care Medical Education in European Universities: A Descriptive Study and Numerical Scoring System Proposal for Assessing Educational Development.
The lack of palliative medicine (PM) education has been identified as a barrier to the development of the discipline. A number of international institutions have called for its implementation within undergraduate medical curricula. ⋯ PM is taught in a substantial number of undergraduate medical programs at European universities, and a qualified teaching structure is emerging; however, there is a wide variation in the level of PM educational development between individual countries.