Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Feb 2015
Changes in medication profile among patients with advanced cancer admitted to an acute palliative care unit.
The decision-making process for medication use in the last weeks of life is complex because of patient frailty and poor prognosis. Limited literature is available on medication use in the palliative care setting, particularly in acute palliative care units (APCUs). We examined the changes in medication profile among hospitalized patients with advanced cancer before their palliative care inpatient consultation team referral, after palliative care consultation, at the time of APCU admission, and at APCU discharge or death. ⋯ Palliative care involvement was associated with an increase in symptom control medications and decrease in medications for comorbid conditions over time.
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Support Care Cancer · Feb 2015
Improving national hospice/palliative care service symptom outcomes systematically through point-of-care data collection, structured feedback and benchmarking.
Every health care sector including hospice/palliative care needs to systematically improve services using patient-defined outcomes. Data from the national Australian Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration aims to define whether hospice/palliative care patients' outcomes and the consistency of these outcomes have improved in the last 3 years. ⋯ These are the first national hospice/palliative care symptom control performance data to demonstrate improvements in clinical outcomes at a service level as a result of routine data collection and systematic feedback.
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Support Care Cancer · Feb 2015
ReviewCurrent use of drugs affecting the central nervous system for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in cancer patients: a systematic review.
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is common among cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy with platinum analogues, taxanes, vinca alkaloids, epothilone, bortezomib, and thalidomide. The purpose of this study was to investigate the evidence of using drugs affecting the central nervous system (CNS) to alleviate CIPN in cancer patients. ⋯ Insufficient RCTs exist to confirm the efficacy of CNS agents to reduce CIPN. This study highlighted the need for and the importance of conducting well-designed RCTs to generate evidence on CIPN symptom management. Additional RCTs are warranted to accelerate the potential use of CNS drugs for CIPN in cancer patients.
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Support Care Cancer · Feb 2015
Multicenter StudyLength of home hospice care, family-perceived timing of referrals, perceived quality of care, and quality of death and dying in terminally ill cancer patients who died at home.
This study aims to clarify the length of home hospice care, family-perceived timing of referrals, and their effects on the family-perceived quality of care and quality of death and dying of terminally ill cancer patients who died at home and identify the determinants of perceived late referrals. ⋯ A significant number of bereaved families regarded the timing of referrals to home hospices as late, and the perceived timing was associated with the family-perceived quality of care and quality of death and dying. Systematic strategies to overcome the barriers related to perceived late referrals are necessary.
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Support Care Cancer · Feb 2015
Validation of the Holistic Comfort Questionnaire-caregiver in Portuguese-Brazil in a cohort of informal caregivers of palliative care cancer patients.
The aims of this study were to perform a cross-cultural adaptation and to assess the psychometric properties of the Portuguese (Brazil) version of the Holistic Comfort Questionnaire-caregiver (HCQ-caregiver) in a sample of family caregivers (FCs) of palliative care (PC) cancer patients. ⋯ The present study demonstrates the validity and reliability of the Brazilian version of the HCQ-caregiver.