Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2015
Multicenter StudyLong-term psychosocial outcomes among bereaved siblings of children with cancer.
The death of a child from cancer affects the entire family. Little is known about the long-term psychosocial outcomes of bereaved siblings. ⋯ How siblings experience the death of a child with cancer may impact their long-term psychosocial well-being. Sibling-directed communication and concurrent supportive care during the cancer experience and the year after the sibling death may mitigate poor long-term outcomes.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2015
Psychometric properties of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue) in Chinese patients receiving maintenance dialysis.
Fatigue is a common symptom reported by patients with end-stage renal disease, and it can significantly decrease patients' quality of life. A brief and convenient fatigue assessment tool is needed for Chinese patients on maintenance dialysis. ⋯ The FACIT-Fatigue had acceptable validity and reliability for maintenance dialysis patients and can be used as a valid tool for the measurement of fatigue among these Chinese patients.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2015
Multicenter StudyPretreatment information on dysphagia: exploring the views of head and neck cancer patients.
Swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) are a common acute and chronic side effect of head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment. Dysphagia is associated with medical concerns such as malnutrition and pulmonary health as well as quality of life outcomes. Providing information on the likely changes to swallowing is an important component of pretreatment preparation. There is little research providing the patients' perspective in this area. ⋯ Patients require information on the impact and prognosis for their swallowing ability. There was a general preference for verbal information, from someone knowledgeable about dysphagia. However, there are also individual preferences for the manner and pace at which this information is delivered. Further research is indicated to explore ways of providing information that is individually tailored to patients' needs and preferences.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2015
Measuring the quality of dying and death in the pediatric intensive care setting: the clinician PICU-QODD.
In the pediatric intensive care setting, an accurate measure of the dying and death experience holds promise for illuminating how critical care nurses, physicians, and allied psychosocial staff can better manage end-of-life care for the benefit of children and their families, as well as the caregivers. ⋯ The PICU-QODD-20 shows promise as a valid and reliable measure of the quality of dying and death in pediatric intensive care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2015
Comparative StudyDescriptions by general practitioners and nurses of their collaboration in continuous sedation until death at home: in-depth qualitative interviews in three European countries.
One palliative care approach that is increasingly being used at home for relieving intolerable suffering in terminally ill patients is continuous sedation until death. Its provision requires a multidisciplinary team approach, with adequate collaboration and communication. However, it is unknown how general practitioners (GPs) and home care nurses experience being involved in the use of sedation at home. ⋯ We found variety among the countries studied regarding the decision making and provision of continuous sedation until death at home. These differences, among others, may be the result of different organizational contexts in the three countries such as the use of anticipatory medication in the U.K.