European journal of cancer care
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Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) · Jan 2008
Understanding the reliability and validity of the EORTC QLQ-C30 in Turkish cancer patients.
Quality of life (QOL) has become an important area to address. The most commonly used QOL tool in oncology is the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QOL measure (EORTC QLQ-C30). The aim of this study is to examine the reliability and validity of this widely used questionnaire in Turkish language. ⋯ Although score of emotional functioning subscale was significantly correlated with HADS-A, no correlation was found with HADS-D. The correlations between general health/QOL and HADS-A and HADS-D were significant though Pearson's coefficients were below 0.4. The EORTC QLQ-C30 version 3.0 is a reliable and valid instrument and suitable for measuring the QOL in cancer patients in Turkey.
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Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) · Jan 2008
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyOpioid use in dying patients in hospice and hospital, with and without specialist palliative care team involvement.
Newspapers claim that patients in hospices have their opioid doses increased to a point at which doctors know that they will die. However, research has produced conflicting results about whether hospice patients receive higher doses of opioids. ⋯ There was no statistically significant difference in the mean dose of opioids prescribed to and given to the different groups of cancer patients dying in different settings, indicating that the claims of the press are untrue. The cancer patients dying in hospital who were not on the HPCT records more commonly received Tramadol, which may indicate a reluctance of hospital doctors to move from weak opioids to strong opioids.