Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2021
Review Meta AnalysisEffect of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Musculoskeletal Symptoms in Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been widely used as a complementary medical treatment for arthralgia and other types of pain. The available literature on the effectiveness of TCM on breast cancer patients with musculoskeletal symptoms reports controversial results. ⋯ The results suggest that TCM could be an effective treatment in relieving pain especially worst pain and pain interference as well as improving quality of life caused by AI-related musculoskeletal symptoms. However, further investigation of the molecular pathway involved and in-depth safety profile are needed.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2021
Preoperative frailty status and intensity of end of life care among older adults after emergency surgery.
Emergency general surgery (EGS) is common and highly morbid for older adults, particularly for those who are frail. However, there are little data on the quality of end-of-life care (EOLC) for this population. ⋯ While all older patients undergoing EGS have poor end-of-life outcomes, frail EGS patients receive the highest intensity EOLC and represent a vulnerable population for whom targeted interventions could limit burdensome treatment.
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Guardians are surrogate decision makers appointed by a court when other health care decision-makers are unable, unwilling, or unavailable to make decisions. Prior studies suggest that persons under guardianship may experience delays in transitions of care. ⋯ Guardianship appears to be rare, and as a rule, those under guardianship have equal access to hospice and palliative care within Veterans Health Administration. Guardianship may be associated with health-care challenges in a small number of cases, and this may drive perceptions of adverse outcomes.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2021
Weighing Distress and Benefit: Understanding the Research Participation Experiences of Bereaved Parents of Children with Complex Chronic Conditions.
Improving end-of-life care for children with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) requires parental perspectives. The vulnerability of bereaved parents has historically been a research barrier and studies describing their research participation experience are lacking. ⋯ A majority of parents responded to questions about their child's end-of-life care without significant distress. When present, distress was often accompanied by a perception that participation was beneficial.