Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2018
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyComparison of EORTC QLQ-C30 and PRO-CTCAE™ Questionnaires on Six Symptom Items.
Clinical studies have over the past decade paid increasing attention to health-related quality of life data. Multiple questionnaires are often administered resulting in overlapping questions increasing patient burden. ⋯ The good reliability and consistency between the QLQ-C30 and PRO-CTCAE support future attempts to minimize patient burden by shortening health-related quality of life questionnaires.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2018
Inter-Rater Agreement of Intensivists Evaluating the Goal Concordance of Preference-Sensitive ICU Interventions.
Goal-concordant care has been identified as an important outcome of advance care planning and shared decision-making initiatives. However, validated methods for measuring goal concordance are needed. ⋯ Inter-rater agreement between intensivists using a standardized methodology to evaluate the goal concordance of preference-sensitive ICU interventions was moderate. Further testing is needed before this methodology can be recommended as a clinical research outcome.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2018
Observational StudyTrends of Earlier Palliative Care Consultation in Advanced Cancer Patients Receiving Palliative Radiation Therapy.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology recommends that all patients with metastatic disease receive dedicated palliative care (PC) services early in their illness, ideally via interdisciplinary care teams. ⋯ Over a six-year period, palliative care consultation occurred earlier for metastatic patients treated with PRT at our institution.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2018
Comparative StudyResource Use During the Last Six Months of Life Among COPD Patients: A Population-Level Study.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients often have several comorbidities, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) or lung cancer (LC), which might influence resource use in the final months of life. However, no previous studies documented end-of-life resource use in COPD patients at a population level, thereby differentiating whether COPD patients die of their COPD, CVD, or LC. ⋯ The presence of lung cancer and CVDs influences resource use in COPD patients at life's end. We recommend that future research on end-of-life care in COPD patients systematically accounts for specific comorbidities.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2018
Language Used by Health Care Professionals to Describe Dying at an Acute Care Hospital.
Clinicians often rely on documentation to relay information, and this remains the mainstay of interprofessional communication regarding patient care. However, there has been scant research focused on clinicians' documentation of dying in hospital and how this is communicated to other team members in patient charting. ⋯ Death and dying in hospital is inadequately documented and often described using unclear and vague language. PC involvement is associated with clearer language to describe this process.