Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialCOMPASS: A Pilot Trial of an Early Palliative Care Intervention for Patients with End Stage Liver Disease.
Palliative care interventions have shown promise in improving quality of life and reducing health-care utilization among patients with chronic organ failure. ⋯ Logistical obstacles hindered completion of the trial as originally designed. Nevertheless, a preemptive palliative care intervention resulted in increased time to first readmission and more days alive outside the hospital in the first six months after study entry.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2019
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyAssociation between Plasma Brain Natriuretic Peptide and Overall Survival in Patients with Advanced Cancer: Preliminary Findings.
Atrial and brain natriuretic peptides (ANP and BNP) are established diagnostic and prognostic markers in heart failure, but their utility in patients with advanced cancer is unclear. ⋯ Our preliminary findings suggest that BNP or Pro-BNP may be a novel objective prognostic marker in cancer patients without heart failure. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialUsability of PCforMe in patients with advanced cancer referred to outpatient palliative care: results of a randomized, active-controlled pilot trial.
Low utilization of palliative care services warrant testing of new solutions to educate and engage patients around the benefits of palliative care. ⋯ PCforMe is a usable mobile health tool to prepare patients for an upcoming palliative care appointment. Further research is needed to test effectiveness.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialTo what extent do the NRS and CRQ capture change in patients' experience of breathlessness in advanced disease? Findings from a mixed-methods double blind randomised feasibility trial.
Chronic or refractory breathlessness is common and distressing. To evaluate new treatments, outcome measures that capture change in patients' experience are needed. ⋯ This study found that the NRS using the question "How bad has your breathlessness felt at its worst over the past 24 hours?" captured change across multiple domains, and therefore may be an appropriate primary outcome measure in trials in this population. Future work should confirm the construct validity of this question.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialExtent and Determinants of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients' Concordance Between Preferred and Received Life-Sustaining Treatment States: An Advance Care Planning Randomized Trial in Taiwan.
Promoting patient value-concordant end-of-life care is a priority in health care systems but has rarely been examined in randomized clinical trials. ⋯ Our advance care planning intervention did not facilitate concordance between terminally ill cancer patients' preferred and received LST states, but patient value-concordant end-of-life care may be facilitated by interventions to cultivate accurate prognostic awareness, improve quality of life, support depressive patients, and clarify anxious patients' overexpectations of LST efficacy.