Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2020
Randomized Controlled TrialControlled-release oxycodone versus placebo in the treatment of chronic breathlessness - a multi-site randomised placebo controlled trial.
Chronic breathlessness is a clinical syndrome that results in significant distress and disability. Morphine can reduce chronic breathlessness when the contributing etiologies are optimally treated. ⋯ There was no signal of benefit from oxycodone over placebo. Future research should focus on investigating the existence of an opioid class effect on the reduction of chronic breathlessness.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2020
ReviewIdentification and assessment of breathlessness in clinical practice: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.
Breathlessness is common in chronic conditions but often goes unidentified by clinicians. It is important to understand how identification and assessment of breathlessness occurs across health care settings, to promote routine outcome assessment and access to treatment. ⋯ Various measures were identified, reflective of the setting's purpose. However, this highlights missed opportunities for breathlessness management across settings; primary care is particularly well placed to diagnose and support breathlessness. The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease approach (where symptoms and quality of life are part of disease management) could apply to other conditions. Better documentation of holistic patient-reported measures may drive service improvement in specialist palliative care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2020
Validation of the Dutch version of the Breakthrough Pain Assessment Tool in Patients with Cancer.
Essential for adequate management of breakthrough cancer pain is a combination of accurate (re-)assessment and a personalized treatment plan. The Breakthrough Pain Assessment Tool (BAT) has been proven to be a brief, multidimensional, reliable, and valid questionnaire for the assessment of breakthrough cancer pain. ⋯ The BAT-DL is a valid and reliable questionnaire to assess breakthrough pain in Dutch patients with cancer and is a relevant questionnaire for daily practice.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2020
DISTINCT STRESS PROFILES AMONG ONCOLOGY PATIENTS UNDERGOING CHEMOTHERAPY.
Cancer and its treatment are inherently stressful and stress impacts important patient outcomes. Patients vary considerably in their response to stress. Understanding this variability requires a patient-centered multidimensional approach. ⋯ A subset of patients warrants intensive psychosocial intervention to reduce stress and improve adaptation to cancer. Intervention efforts may be informed by further study of Resilient patients.