Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2013
Multicenter StudyDo patients with advanced cognitive impairment admitted to hospitals with higher rates of feeding tube insertion have improved survival?
Research is conflicting on whether receiving medical care at a hospital with more aggressive treatment patterns improves survival. ⋯ Hospitals with more aggressive patterns of feeding tube insertion did not have improved survival for hospitalized nursing home residents with advanced cognitive impairment.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2013
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialTrajectories of sleep disturbance and daytime sleepiness in women before and after surgery for breast cancer.
Sleep disturbance is a problem for oncology patients. ⋯ Sleep disturbance is a persistent problem for patients with breast cancer. The effects of interventions that can address modifiable risk factors need to be evaluated.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2012
Multicenter StudyComputer-based symptom assessment is feasible in patients with advanced cancer: results from an international multicenter study, the EPCRC-CSA.
Symptom assessment by computers is only effective if it provides valid results and is perceived as useful for clinical use by the end users: patients and health care providers. ⋯ The high completion rate shows that symptom assessment by computers is feasible in patients with advanced cancer. However, reduced performance status reduces compliance and increases the need for assistance. Future work should aim at identifying the minimum set of valid screening questions and refine the software to optimize symptom assessment and reduce respondent burden in frail patients.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2012
Multicenter StudyAssessment of the psychometric properties of an English version of the cancer dyspnea scale in people with advanced lung cancer.
Dyspnea is a poorly understood subjective sensation. Existing dyspnea measures fail to adequately address its multidimensionality. A Japanese group developed and validated the Cancer Dyspnea Scale (CDS) for assessing dyspnea in patients with advanced lung cancer. ⋯ The CDS-E and r-CDS-E are reliable and valid measures of the sensation and the psychological components of dyspnea, with the shorter version having similar psychometric properties.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2012
Multicenter StudyEmergencies in patients with advanced cancer followed at home.
Patients with advanced cancer stay at home for most of their time, and acute problems may occur during home care. Caregivers may call medical services for an emergency, which can result in patients being admitted to the hospital. No data exist on emergencies in patients followed by a home care team. ⋯ Emergency calls are relatively frequent in patients followed at home by a palliative care team. Phone consultation or intervention at home may avoid inappropriate hospital admission.