Journal of pain and symptom management
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PC-FACS(FastArticleCriticalSummaries for Clinicians inPalliativeCare) provides hospice and palliative care clinicians with concise summaries of the most important findings from more than 100 medical and scientific journals. If you have colleagues who would benefit from receiving PC-FACS, please encourage them to join the AAHPM at aahpm.org. Comments from readers are welcomed at pc-facs@aahpm.org.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2016
Assessment of burden among family caregivers of people with Parkinson's disease using the Zarit Burden Interview.
Previous studies have supported the psychometric properties of the 22-Item Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-22) scale among family caregivers of people with various disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD). However, its short forms have not been psychometrically tested among PD family caregivers, and available psychometric analyses have not accounted for the ordinal nature of item-level data. ⋯ This study provides support for the reliability and validity of the ZBI-22 and its various short forms for use among PD family caregivers. In studies where caregiver burden is a central outcome, either ZBI-22 or ZBI-12 is suggested for use; other short forms can be used when caregiver burden is of less central focus or for clinical screening.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2016
Dignity and psychosocial-related variables in advanced and non-advanced cancer patients by using the Patient Dignity Inventory - Italian version (PDI-IT).
The Patient Dignity Inventory (PDI) is a valid and reliable instrument to measure dignity, as a state of physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being in palliative care patients and an essential dimension for a comprehensive patient-centered approach. ⋯ The study confirmed that the PDI-IT is a valid instrument to be applied in oncology and measuring three factors, namely existential, psychological, and physical distress, as core dimensions of dignity, to be monitored and treated in clinical settings.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2016
The effect of pediatric palliative care policy on hospice utilization among California Medicaid beneficiaries.
California implemented pediatric palliative care legislations that allowed children to receive curative and supportive care from diagnosis of a life-threatening serious illness in 2010. Palliative care policies may improve access to hospice care as children near end of life. ⋯ The pediatric palliative care policy was associated with longer lengths of stay in hospice once the children were enrolled. Policies promoting palliative care are critical to ensuring access to hospice care for children.