Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2020
Cross-cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Validation of the French Version of the FAMCARE-Patient Questionnaire (FFP-16) for Outpatients with Advanced-stage Cancer.
Satisfaction is known to be correlated with the quality of care; it indicates the adequacy of the caregivers' responses in meeting the needs and expectations of patients. The FAMCARE-Patient questionnaire has been used to quantify satisfaction level in outpatients with advanced-stage cancers. ⋯ We found the FFP-16 questionnaire to be a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of satisfaction in French outpatients with advanced-stage cancer.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2020
Grief During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Considerations for Palliative Care Providers.
The COVID-19 pandemic is anticipated to continue spreading widely across the globe throughout 2020. To mitigate the devastating impact of COVID-19, social distancing and visitor restrictions in health care facilities have been widely implemented. ⋯ Furthermore, we provide discussion regarding countering this grief through communication, advance care planning, and self-care practices. We provide resources for health care providers, in addition to calling on palliative care providers to consider their own role as a resource to other specialties during this public health emergency.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2020
Characteristics, symptom management and outcomes of 101 patients with COVID-19 referred for hospital palliative care.
Hospital palliative care is an essential part of the COVID-19 response but data are lacking. We identified symptom burden, management, response to treatment, and outcomes for a case series of 101 inpatients with confirmed COVID-19 referred to hospital palliative care. Patients (64 men, median [interquartile range {IQR}] age 82 [72-89] years, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index 6 [2-10], Australian-modified Karnofsky Performance Status 20 [10-20]) were most frequently referred for end-of-life care or symptom control. ⋯ Breathlessness and agitation are common but respond well to opioids and benzodiazepines. Availability of subcutaneous infusion pumps is essential. An international minimum data set for palliative care would accelerate finding answers to new questions as the COVID-19 pandemic develops.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2020
Multicenter StudyAssociation between heart rate and reversibility of the symptom, refractoriness to palliative treatment, and survival in dyspneic cancer patients.
Dyspnea is one of the most distressing symptoms for terminally ill cancer patients and a predictor of poor prognosis. Identification of simple clinical signs, such as heart rate, indicating clinical course of each patient is of value. ⋯ Heart rate may help clinicians to make the prediction of the patient's clinical course more accurate.