Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2023
Multicenter StudyVaccine preventable diseases in pediatric palliative care - a multicenter cross-sectional study.
Vaccine preventable diseases lead to distressful symptoms and complications among pediatric patients receiving specialized home palliative care. There was no data on the vaccination compliance. ⋯ Children and adolescents with life-limiting conditions are at increased risk of vaccine preventable diseases. Individual vaccination counselling is recommended.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2023
Should Outpatient Palliative Care Clinics in Cancer Centers be Stand Alone or Embedded?
Outpatient palliative care facilitates timely symptom management, psychosocial care and care planning. A growing number of cancer centers have either stand-alone or embedded outpatient palliative care clinics. In this "Controversies in Palliative Care" article, three groups of thought leaders independently answer this question. ⋯ In the absence of evidence that directly compares the two models, factors such as cancer center size, palliative care team composition, clinic space availability, and financial considerations may drive the decision-making process at each institution. Stand-alone clinics may be more appropriate for larger academic cancer centers or palliative care programs with a more comprehensive interdisciplinary team, while embedded clinics may be more suited for smaller palliative care programs or community oncology programs to stimulate referrals. As outpatient clinic models continue to evolve, investigators need to document the referral and patient outcomes to inform practice.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2023
Patient reported outcomes and unscheduled health services use during oral anti-cancer treatment.
People on oral anti-cancer agents must self-manage their symptoms with less interaction with oncology providers compared to infusion treatments. Symptoms and physical function are key patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and may lead to unscheduled health services uses (urgent care and emergency department [ED] visits, hospitalizations), which in turn lead to increased health care costs. ⋯ Monitoring of PROs has the potential of reducing unscheduled health services use if supportive care interventions are deployed based on their levels.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2023
Using Latent Class Analysis to Identify Different Clinical Profiles Among Patients With Advanced Heart Failure.
Although palliative care is guideline-indicated for patients with advanced heart failure (HF), the scarcity of a specialty-trained palliative care workforce demands better identification of patients who are most burdened by the disease. ⋯ Among advanced HF patients, we identified a distinct subgroup characterized by a conjunction of high symptom burden, anxiety, depression, multimorbidity, and functional status impairment, which might profit particularly from palliative care interventions. J Pain Symptom Manage 2022;000:1-9.