Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Jan 2016
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPrevalence of hospital malnutrition in cancer patients: a sub-analysis of the PREDyCES(®) study.
In oncology patients, hospital malnutrition is associated with a greater risk of morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of nutritional risk and the clinical and economic consequences of hospital malnutrition in oncology patients hospitalised in Spanish centres. ⋯ This study shows that hospital malnutrition is a prevalent and undertreated condition in oncology patients that is associated with longer hospital stays and increased healthcare costs.
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Support Care Cancer · Jan 2016
Prevalence of severe depressive symptoms increases as death approaches and is associated with disease burden, tangible social support, and high self-perceived burden to others.
Terminally ill cancer patients experience progressive functional decline, accelerating symptom severity, deteriorating social support, and self-perceived burden to others (SPB), predisposing them to depressive symptoms. However, changes in the prevalence of severe depressive symptoms as death approaches and the unique roles of these four variables have not been adequately studied. This study explored longitudinal changes in and associations of symptom distress, functional dependence, social support, and SPB with prevalence of severe depressive symptoms in the last year of life. ⋯ Prevalence of severe depressive symptoms increased as death approached and was associated with several modifiable factors. Healthcare professionals should become familiar with these factors to identify vulnerable patients. To decrease the likelihood of terminally ill cancer patients' severe depressive symptoms, they should receive effective interventions to manage their symptoms, appropriately foster social support to restore their fragile self-esteem due to depending on others, and lighten their SPB.
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Support Care Cancer · Jan 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialChemotherapy-associated treatment burden in breast cancer patients receiving lipegfilgrastim or pegfilgrastim: secondary efficacy data from a phase III study.
Lipegfilgrastim is a once-per-cycle glycoPEGylated granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF). Noninferiority of lipegfilgrastim versus pegfilgrastim was demonstrated in a phase III trial in chemotherapy (CTx)-naïve breast cancer patients. Secondary outcomes relating to treatment burden are reported here. ⋯ The burden of treatment associated with myelosuppressive CTx was similar in breast cancer patients treated with lipegfilgrastim or pegfilgrastim.
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Support Care Cancer · Jan 2016
The effects of community-wide dissemination of information on perceptions of palliative care, knowledge about opioids, and sense of security among cancer patients, their families, and the general public.
Prejudices against palliative care are a potential barrier to quality end-of-life care. There have been few large-scale community-wide interventions to distribute appropriate information about palliative care, and no studies have investigated their impact on cancer patients, their families, and the general public. Thus, we conducted a 3-year community intervention and evaluated the effects of distributing such information at the community level, and explored associations among levels of exposure, perceptions, knowledge, and the sense of security achieved. ⋯ Our findings indicate that providing palliative care information via small media and lectures in the community is effective in improving perceptions of palliative care and knowledge about opioids among the community dwellers, especially for caregivers of the patients. The acquisition of adequate knowledge about palliative care from various information sources may improve people's sense of security regarding cancer.
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Support Care Cancer · Jan 2016
Developing a clinical pathway for the identification and management of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients: an online Delphi consensus process.
People with cancer and their families experience high levels of psychological morbidity. However, many cancer services do not routinely screen patients for anxiety and depression, and there are no standardized clinical referral pathways. This study aimed to establish consensus on elements of a draft clinical pathway tailored to the Australian context. ⋯ This study identified a core set of evidence- and consensus-based principles considered essential to a stepped care model of care incorporating identification, referral and management of anxiety and depression in adult cancer patients.