Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Feb 2013
In-advance end-of-life discussions and the quality of inpatient end-of-life care: a pilot study in bereaved primary caregivers of advanced cancer patients.
Advanced cancer care planning is encouraged to achieve individualized care. We hypothesized that in-advance end-of-life (EOL) discussions and establishment of do-not-resuscitate (DNR) status prior to the terminal admission would be associated with better quality of inpatient EOL care. ⋯ Advanced cancer patients may receive higher quality of inpatient EOL care if they had in-advance EOL discussions.
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Support Care Cancer · Feb 2013
Cancer-related fatigue in Italian cancer patients: validation of the Italian version of the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI).
Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common symptoms experienced by cancer patients (CPs). The Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) is a reliable instrument to assess CRF in CPs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the BFI (BFI-I). ⋯ BFI-I is a clinical instrument with satisfactory psychometric properties to assess CRF in Italian CPs.
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Support Care Cancer · Feb 2013
Specific anticancer treatments in the last 3 months of life: a French experience.
The treatment of patients with advanced cancer is becoming increasingly aggressive near the end of life, whereas poor literature is available. This study analyzes the management of patients with a solid cancer in their last 3 months of life in the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Besançon, France. ⋯ These preliminary data suggest that when evaluating the utilization of care at the end of life, one needs to take into account factors such as the age of the patient and the chemosensitivity of the tumor.
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Patients' care has been associated with a high burden of psychological symptoms in caregivers. This study identifies characteristics associated with mood disorders in caregivers of cancer patients. ⋯ Prevalence of mood disorders is high in cancer patients' caregivers. These results highlight the need to develop family intervention strategies to minimize the impact of patient's care on caregivers' mental health.
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Support Care Cancer · Jan 2013
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyHow does the Distress Thermometer compare to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale for detecting possible cases of psychological morbidity among cancer survivors?
Use of the Distress Thermometer (DT) as a screening tool is increasing across the cancer trajectory. This study examined the accuracy and optimal cut-off score of the DT compared to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for detecting possible cases of psychological morbidity among adults in early survivorship. ⋯ The recommended DT cut-off score of ≥4 was not supported for universal use among recent cancer survivors. The optimal DT threshold depends upon whether the tool is being used in the clinical or research setting. The DT may best serve to initially identify non-cases as part of a two-stage screening process. The performance of the DT against 'gold standard' clinical interview should be evaluated with cancer survivors.