Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2021
Hospitalization outcomes of delirium in patients admitted to acute care hospitals in their last year of life: A population-based retrospective cohort study.
Delirium is a highly distressing neurocognitive disorder for patients at the end of life. ⋯ In the last year of life, hospitalized patients with recorded delirium experience poorer outcomes, including longer lengths of stay and increased risk of postdischarge institution use, compared with those without delirium. These outcomes illustrate added burden for patients, their families, and the health care system, thus highlighting the need for delirium prevention and early detection in addition to informed transitional care decisions.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2021
The Role of Palliative Care in Withdrawal of Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Cardiogenic Shock.
As the use of venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) increases, decisions regarding withdrawal from VA-ECMO increase. ⋯ Shorter duration of VA-ECMO support and presence of brain injury were associated with fewer palliative care visits. Decisions around withdrawal of VA-ECMO support might be less complicated when patient's medical conditions deteriorate quickly or when neurological prognosis seems poor.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2021
Correlates of Mental Health after COVID-19 Bereavement in Mainland China.
Pioneering empirical studies show that people bereaved due to COVID-19 experience elevated acute grief, posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depressive symptom levels, which relate to functional impairment. However, studies focused on Western samples and multivariate analyses of relations between potential risk factors and mental health in this population are lacking. ⋯ Many Chinese adults bereaved due to COVID-19 experience severe mental health problems. The recent loss of first-degree relatives, feeling traumatized by the loss, and having a close and/or conflictual relationship with the deceased may elevate risk for these mental health problems, which could require indicated psychological treatment.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2021
Parental Perceptions of Hospital-Based Bereavement Support Following a Child's Death from Cancer: Room for Improvement.
The death of a child from cancer is a devastating event, placing bereaved parents at risk for both physical and psychosocial morbidities. Despite growing awareness of these outcomes and increased hospital-based support, bereaved parents continue to express a desire for additional assistance. ⋯ Bereaved parents request additional supportive services. Using the parents' perspective and recommendations, we outline options to augment support and provide a variety of supportive resources for bereaved parents to access in their own time.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2021
Methodological reflections on the recruitment of adult child-parent dyads for end-of-life research in Germany: Experiences from the Dy@EoL study.
Although high-quality research with patients and family members is needed to improve palliative care, difficulties in recruitment are often reported. ⋯ The recruitment was more successful in inpatient than in ambulatory settings. The extension of recruitment partners was beneficial to recruit participants from ambulatory contexts. The inclusion of single participants was conducive as a great number of patients participated without their dyad partner. Sharing the obtained experiences can be helpful for future research planning.