Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2024
Race and Socio-Economic Status Impact Withdrawal of Treatment in Young Traumatic Brain Injury.
Withdrawal of life-sustaining therapies (WDLST) in young individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an overwhelming situation often made more stressful by socioeconomic factors that shape health outcomes. Identifying these factors is crucial to developing equitable and goal-concordant care for patients and families. ⋯ The decision for WDLST in young patients with severe TBI may be influenced by cultural and socioeconomic factors in addition to clinical considerations.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2024
Financial Hardship: A Qualitative Study Exploring Perspectives of Seriously Ill Patients and their Family.
Seriously ill patients, such as those who experience critical illness, and their families experience a variety of poor outcomes, including financial hardship. However, little is known about the ways in which these seriously ill patients and their families experience financial hardship. ⋯ Our findings suggest that the acute and time sensitive nature of treatment decisions in critical care settings provides a unique context for experiences of financial hardship. Additional research is needed to better understand these experiences and design context-sensitive interventions to mitigate financial hardship and associated poor patient- and family-centered outcomes.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2024
Serious health-related suffering impairs treatments and survival in older patients with cancer.
More than half of new cancer cases occurred in older adults. Older patients with cancer are particularly at risk of physical, psycho-existential or socio-familial suffering as defined by the concept of Serious Health-related Suffering (SHS). ⋯ Physical suffering has direct pejorative effect on survival. All dimensions indirectly decrease survival due to poorer cancer treatability. Our findings support concomitant management of physical and psycho-existential suffering.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2024
'Recommendations for deprescribing of medication in the last phase of life: an international Delphi study'.
Medications may become inappropriate for patients in the last phase of life and may even compromise their quality of life. ⋯ A high level of consensus was reached on recommendations on potential deprescription of several medications for patients with a life expectancy of six months or less.