Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2017
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyFatigue during and after breast cancer therapy - A prospective study.
Chronic fatigue (CF) in breast cancer (BC) survivors is multifactorial and may be caused by immune activation triggered by BC or its treatment. In the Neoadjuvant Avastin in Breast Cancer study, BC patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (FEC100→taxane) ± bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody with fatigue as a potential side effect. ⋯ Neither bevacizumab treatment nor low-grade systemic inflammation as measured by CRP was associated with the increased fatigue levels and raised prevalence of CF, observed during and after BC therapy. Increased fatigue levels at baseline and psychological distress at T3 were associated with CF at T3.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2017
ReviewThe Edmonton Symptom Assessment System 25 Years Later: Past, Present and Future Developments.
Routine symptom assessment represents the cornerstone of symptom management. Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) is one of the first quantitative symptom assessment batteries that allows for simple and rapid documentation of multiple patient-reported symptoms at the same time. ⋯ ESAS has evolved over the past 25 years to become an important symptom assessment instrument in both clinical practice and research. Future efforts are needed to standardize this tool and explore its full potential to support symptom management.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2017
Association between Multi-Frequency Phase Angle and Survival in Patients with Advanced Cancer.
The ability to predict survival accurately has implications in clinical decision making. ⋯ Phase angle represents a novel objective prognostic factor in outpatient palliative cancer care setting, regardless of frequency and body sides.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2017
Comparative StudyCompassion Satisfaction, Compassion Fatigue, and Burnout in Spain and Brazil: ProQOL validation and cross-cultural diagnosis.
Palliative care professionals' quality of life has emerged as a growing issue of interest in health care literature, centered on concerns about professionals' compassion within a context of work characterized by pain and death. ⋯ The ProQOL shows psychometric goodness in its Spanish and Portuguese versions, although some items should be revised. The ProQOL is also useful for diagnosis and is sensitive enough to distinguish nuances as that found between Brazilian and Spanish professionals.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2017
ReviewTopical Treatment of Peripheral Neuropathic Pain: Applying the Evidence.
Patients with peripheral neuropathic pain (NP) may only achieve partial pain relief with currently recommended first-line oral treatments, which are also associated with systemic adverse events. Topical treatments are currently considered second- or third-line options, but a recent pharmacologic treatment algorithm has called for broader first-line use of these agents. This has highlighted a need to communicate the benefits associated with topical agents, in particular around the efficacy, targeted local action, and limited systemic availability resulting in minimal systemic adverse events and drug-drug interactions. ⋯ First-line use of topical agents may be of particular benefit in patients where the safety and tolerability of oral therapy is a concern.