Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2021
Multistate models for examining the progression of intermittently-measured patient-reported symptoms among cancer patients: the importance of accounting for interval censoring.
Patients with cancer in Ontario, Canada, receive symptom monitoring in a standardized fashion using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS). These measurements can be used to understand symptom progression during the cancer trajectory. ⋯ Our work demonstrates the use of multistate models and the importance of accommodating for intermittent observation when examining symptom progression using ESAS among patients with cancer. This work serves as a methodological guide for applied researchers interested in modeling disease progression under the presence of intermittent observation.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2021
Experience as an Informal Caregiver and Discussions Regarding Advance Care Planning in Japan.
Advance care planning (ACP) is vital for end-of-life care management. Experiences as informal family caregivers might act as a catalyst to promote ACP. ⋯ Experiences as informal caregivers for family members may facilitate ACP discussions among Japanese adults, especially younger adults with higher educational attainment. Our findings may help health-care providers screen those at risk for inadequate ACP discussions, and informal caregiving experience should be considered when health-care providers initiate discussions of end-of-life care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2021
Art Therapy in a Palliative Care Unit: Symptom Relief and Perceived Helpfulness in Patients and Their Relatives.
Creative arts therapies aim to expand conventional palliative care interventions by making clinical care more holistic. ⋯ This art therapy intervention was beneficial in reducing symptom intensity. Almost all the participants directly or indirectly involved in the creative art process considered it helpful. They reported a wide variety of sensory, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual experiences.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2020
Palliative care physicians and palliative radiotherapy, knowledge and barriers for referring: a cross-sectional study.
Palliative radiotherapy is effective in the management of symptoms resulting from advanced cancer. However, it remains underutilized. In developed countries, many factors have been linked to this phenomenon but data in developing and low-income countries, particularly in Latin America, are lacking. ⋯ Several barriers affect referral to palliative radiotherapy. Some barriers seem to be more significant for physicians practicing in cities far from cancer centers. Physicians' knowledge is less than optimal and has been identified as a barrier to referral. Educational interventions and broadening the availability of cancer treatment resources are needed to improve the referral process.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2020
Rehabilitation for cancer patients in inpatient hospices / palliative care units and achievement of a good death: analyses of combined data from nationwide surveys among bereaved family members.
In end-of-life care, rehabilitation for patients with cancer is considered to be an important means for improving patients' quality of death and dying. ⋯ Rehabilitation in palliative care units may contribute to several domains of quality of death and dying, particularly maintaining hope and pleasure. Further research is needed to investigate whether palliative rehabilitation contributes to the achievement of a good death.