Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2004
Hospital based palliative care teams improve the insight of cancer patients into their disease.
It is reported that cancer patients want as much information as possible about their diagnosis and prognosis. This input regarding patients' insight into their disease is undoubtedly a major part of providing optimal palliative care. Despite this, there is little information regarding the impact of hospital based palliative care teams. ⋯ The results indicated that cancer patients admitted to hospital for symptom control demonstrated an improvement in their insight to their diagnosis. Those patients who had the additional input of the palliative care team had a significantly greater improvement in their insight scores (reported by the doctors and nurses as being invaluable for the patients). Potential explanations are made for these results including enhanced communication skills of the palliative care team are explored.
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Palliative medicine · Dec 2003
Professionally perceived effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for existential suffering of terminally ill cancer patients.
Although integrated care for existential suffering is an essential part of palliative care, little is known about its concept and efficacy as perceived by professionals. A questionnaire survey was carried out to 1) explore the underlying structure of psychosocial interventions recommended by specialists, 2) identify the professionally perceived effectiveness of each intervention for specific existential distress, and 3) examine the effects of specialty on their recommendations. ⋯ Experts evaluated a variety of clinical interventions as effective in palliating existential suffering, although the perceived levels of efficacy of each intervention differed according to the nature of suffering and their specialties. To effectively alleviate existential suffering in terminally ill cancer patients, an integrated care by an interdisciplinary team is necessary.
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Palliative medicine · Dec 2003
Routine drug monitoring of serum concentrations of morphine, morphine-3-glucuronide and morphine-6-glucuronide do not predict clinical observations in cancer patients.
The clinical importance of routine drug monitoring of serum concentrations of morphine, morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G) and morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G) during chronic morphine therapy is not established. We measured morphine, M6G and M3G serum concentrations in cancer pain patients receiving oral (n = 263, median dose 80 mg/24 hours) or subcutaneous (sc) (n = 35, median dose 110 mg/24 hours) morphine. Regression analyses were performed to investigate if serum concentrations of morphine, M3G and M6G predicted pain intensity (Brief Pain Inventory), health-related quality-of-life variables (EORTC QLQ-C30) and cognitive function (Mini-Mental Score). ⋯ We observed that serum concentrations of morphine, M6G or M3G did not predict pain intensity, cognitive function, nausea or tiredness. 'Treatment failures' caused by nausea, tiredness, cognitive failure or constipation did not have statistically significant different morphine, M6G and M3G serum concentrations than patients classified as 'treatment successes'. In conclusion, this study did not observe any concentration-effect relationships of morphine, M3G or M6G with pain intensity, nausea, constipation, tiredness or cognitive failure in blood samples obtained during routine clinical drug monitoring in cancer patients. This result suggests that therapeutic drug monitoring as a routine tool during chronic morphine treatment has limited value for clinical decision making.
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Palliative medicine · Dec 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialA randomized controlled trial of supplemental oxygen versus air in cancer patients with dyspnea.
The symptomatic benefits of oxygen in patients with cancer who have nonhypoxic dyspnea are not well defined. ⋯ Currently, the routine use of supplemental oxygen for dyspnea during exercise in this patient population cannot be recommended.