Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2018
The impact of therapeutic opioid agonists on driving-related psychomotor skills assessed by a driving simulator or an on-road driving task: A systematic review.
Driving cessation is associated with poor health-related outcomes. People with chronic diseases are often prescribed long-term opioid agonists that have the potential to impair driving. Studies evaluating the impact of opioids on driving-related psychomotor skills report contradictory results likely due to heterogeneous designs, assessment tools and study populations. A better understanding of the effects of regular therapeutic opioid agonists on driving can help to inform the balance between individual's independence and community safety. ⋯ This systematic review does not identify impaired simulated driving performance when people take regular therapeutic opioid agonists for symptom control, although more prospective studies are needed.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2018
The views of adults with Huntington's disease on assisted dying: A qualitative exploration.
Assisted dying is frequently debated publicly and research often includes the views of health professionals on this issue. However, the views of people with life-limiting conditions, for whom this issue is likely to have a different resonance, are less well represented. ⋯ Our findings suggest that talking to patients about assisted death may not cause harm and may even be invited by many patients with Huntington's disease. The perspectives of those who live with Huntington's disease, especially given its extended effects within families, add significant clinical and theoretical insights.