Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2022
ReviewHandling missing data and drop out in hospice/palliative care trials through the estimand framework.
Missing data are common in hospice/palliative care randomized trials due to high drop-out because of the demographic of interest. It can introduce bias in the estimate of the treatment effect and its precision. ⋯ When planning a palliative care trial, the estimand should be explicitly stated, including how intercurrent events will be handled in the analysis. This should be informed by the scientific objectives of the trial. The estimand guides the handling of missing data during the conduct and analysis of the trial. Defining an estimand is not a statistical activity, but a multi-disciplinary process involving all stakeholders.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2022
Randomized Controlled TrialExploring the Feasibility of a Mindfulness-Music Therapy Intervention to Improve Anxiety and Stress in Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer.
Adolescent and young adults (AYAs) with cancer experience significant psychological distress due to cancer treatment that can persist long after treatment. However, little is known regarding optimal interventions to support the psychosocial needs of AYAs with cancer. ⋯ The delivery of a four-session mindfulness-based music therapy intervention to AYAs receiving chemotherapy was feasible and significantly improved perceived stress. These preliminary findings should be confirmed in a randomized controlled trial.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2022
Low Hospice Utilization in New York State: Comparisons Using National Data: Study of Low Hospice Utilization: National Data.
Hospice utilization in New York State (NYS) is low compared to the rest of the U.S. ⋯ NYS's low hospice utilization is independently associated with diverse factors, including those related to the health care system. Combined with information from stakeholders, these findings may help target, and inform initiatives to improve hospice utilization.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2022
Do Palliative Care Providers Use Complementary and Integrative Medicine? A Nationwide Survey.
Given the high prevalence of burdensome symptoms in palliative care (PC) and increasing use of complementary and integrative medicine (CIM) therapies, research is needed to determine how often and what types of CIM therapies providers recommend to manage symptoms in PC. ⋯ To the best of our knowledge, this is the first national survey to characterize PC providers' CIM recommendation behaviors and assess specific therapies and common target symptoms. Providers recommended a broad range of CIM but do so less frequently than patients report using CIM. These findings should be of interest to any provider caring for patients with serious illness.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2022
Epistemic beliefs: relationship to future expectancies and quality of life in cancer patients.
Expectations about the future (future expectancies) are important determinants of psychological well-being among cancer patients, but the strategies patients use to maintain positive and cope with negative expectancies are incompletely understood. ⋯ Epistemic beliefs in limits to medical knowledge are associated with positive future expectancies and greater mental HRQOL; positive expectancies mediate the association between epistemic beliefs and HRQOL. More research is needed to confirm these relationships and elucidate their causal mechanisms.