Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2020
A Chinese version of the chemotherapy-induced alopecia distress scale based on reliability and validity assessment in breast cancer patients.
Chemotherapy-induced alopecia is a common and emotionally traumatic side effect on breast cancer patients. In order to make up for the deficiency of measuring tools in China, our study aims at translating the chemotherapy-induced alopecia distress scale (CADS) into Chinese and evaluating the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of CADS (CADS-C) in breast cancer patients. ⋯ The scale appears to be a reliable and valid tool to measure chemotherapy-induced alopecia distress among breast cancer patients in China.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2020
The impact of the caregiver-oncologist relationship on caregiver experiences of end-of-life care and bereavement outcomes.
The quality of the relationship between oncologists and cancer patients has been associated with caregiver bereavement outcomes, but no studies have examined whether the perceived quality of the relationship between cancer caregivers and oncologists is associated with caregiver experiences of end-of-life care or psychological adjustment after the patient's death. ⋯ Caregivers' early experiences with oncologists may affect their experiences of the patient's end-of-life care.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2020
The impact of palliative care consults on deprescribing in palliative cancer patients.
The transition from active cancer treatment to palliative care often results in a shift in drug risk-benefit assessment which requires the deprescribing of various medications. Deprescribing in palliative cancer patients can benefit patients by reducing their pill burden, decrease potential side effects, and potentially decrease healthcare costs. In addition, a change in patients' goals of care (GOC) necessitates the alteration of drug therapy which includes both deprescribing and the addition of medications intended to improve quality of life. Depending on a patient's GOC, a medication can be considered as inappropriate. ⋯ This study shows the positive impact a PCC has on deprescribing and reveals the importance of using guidelines for deprescribing in palliative cancer patients.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2020
Emergency ambulatory outpatient management of immune-mediated hypophysitis.
Immune-mediated hypophysitis is an important toxicity related to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). Optimal management is associated with improved outcomes. It represents a wide spectrum of clinical presentations, and a proportion may be suitable for emergency ambulatory management. ⋯ Carefully selected emergency presentations with immune-mediated hypophysitis may be suitable for ambulatory management.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2020
Effect of an electronic quality checklist on prescription patterns of prophylactic antiemetic and pain flare medications in the context of palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases.
International guidelines are available to guide prescription of antiemetic and pain flare medications in patients receiving palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases, but prescription rates are quite variable. We hypothesized that a simple electronic quality checklist could increase the evidence-based use of these medications. ⋯ Our data shows that a simple quality checklist item can have a significant effect on the evidence-based use of prophylactic antiemetic and pain flare medications in patients treated with palliative radiotherapy for bone metastases. We believe such strategies should be routinely included in other clinical pathways to improve the use of symptom control medications.