Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Nov 2012
Physicians' self-assessment of cancer pain treatment skills--more training required.
Adequate pain control is essential in cancer treatment. We surveyed Finnish physicians' perception on their skills and training needs on palliative pain management. ⋯ To have more confidence in treating cancer, pain physicians would benefit in training and education in palliative care. It should be systematically included both in general and specialist training and continuous medical education.
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Support Care Cancer · Nov 2012
ReviewOutcome assessment instruments in palliative and hospice care--a review of the literature.
As different definitions for PC have been used across the last three decades, a common terminology is lacking. To ensure quality of care, (a) a consensus on outcome criteria and indicators and (b) validated and applicable outcome assessment instruments are necessary. The aim of this study is to systematically review instrument for outcome assessment that have been used or proposed for research and clinical practice in palliative care. ⋯ The wide scope of existing instruments makes consensus on a universal set of instruments for outcome assessment in palliative care improbable. A framework with a set of appropriate instruments could help (1) to harmonize the variety of tools used in research and clinical practice, (2) to allow for more comparability, and (3) to define gaps were tools maybe missing and should be developed.
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Support Care Cancer · Nov 2012
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyFrequency of depression among oncology outpatients and association with other symptoms.
Depression occurs among an estimated 15% of cancer patients (range, 1-77.5%). Our main objective was to identify the frequency of reported depression by using the Brief Edinburgh Depression Scale (BEDS) among cancer outpatients. Our secondary objective was to identify associated symptoms of cancer using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and to evaluate the screening performance of depression between ESAS and BEDS. ⋯ We found significant associations between probable depression as determined with the BEDS and five symptoms as detected with the ESAS. The vast majority of patients with probable depression were not receiving pharmacological treatment. Depression should be suspected in patients with higher symptom distress as for any one of these 5 ESAS items.
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Support Care Cancer · Nov 2012
Comparative StudyProspective observational Italian study on palliative sedation in two hospice settings: differences in casemixes and clinical care.
Palliative sedation (PS) has been defined as the use of sedative medications to relieve intolerable suffering from refractory symptoms by a reduction in patient consciousness. It is sometimes necessary in end-of-life care when patients present refractory symptoms. We investigated PS for refractory symptoms in different hospice casemixes in order to (1) assess clinical decision-making, (2) monitor the practice of PS, and (3) examine the impact of PS on survival. ⋯ PS represents a highly reproducible clinical intervention with its own indications, assessment methodologies, procedures, and results. It does not have a detrimental effect on survival.
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Support Care Cancer · Nov 2012
Comparative StudySymptom clusters in patients with bone metastases--a reanalysis comparing different statistical methods.
The aims of this study were to determine whether symptom clusters in patients with bone metastases varied when derived using three different statistical methods and to compare the presentation of symptom clusters over time in responders and nonresponders to palliative radiation treatment (RT). ⋯ The presence and composition of symptom clusters derived varied depending on which statistical analysis method was employed. A key step in attaining consistency in symptom cluster research necessitates the utilization of a common method.