Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2019
Validity, Reliability and Diagnostic accuracy of the Respiratory Distress Observation Scale for assessment of dyspnea in adult palliative care patients.
The prevalence and severity of dyspnea increase at the end of life. Many of these patients have difficulty in reporting their symptoms. Accurate surrogate measures are needed for appropriate assessment and treatment. The Respiratory Distress Observation Scale (RDOS) is proposed as a possible scale although more external validation is needed. We set out to validate the RDOS in the context of palliative care patients near the end of life. ⋯ The RDOS shows promise and clinical utility as an observational dyspnea assessment tool. Further studies in uncommunicative patients are needed to determine clinical usefulness and generalizability of results.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2019
Provision of Palliative and Hospice Care to Children in the Community: A Population Study of Hospice Nurses.
Approximately 500,000 children in the United States suffer from life-limiting illnesses each year, many of whom are hospice eligible each year. Few hospice agencies, however, offer formal pediatric programs. ⋯ Children with serious illness who receive care from local hospices often interface with nurses who lack training, experience, and comfort in the provision of palliative and hospice care to pediatric patients. These findings should inform future development and investigation of educational resources, training programs, and child- and family-centered policies to improve the delivery of palliative and hospice care to children in the community.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2019
Clinimetric Properties Of The Brief Fatigue Inventory Applied To Oncological Patients Hospitalized For Chemotherapy.
The clinimetric properties of the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) were not previously assessed in oncological patients hospitalized for chemotherapy. ⋯ BFI applied to oncological patients hospitalized for chemotherapy replicates its original version with adequate reliability, validity, and internal responsiveness. However, in this population, the BFI showed a floor effect.