Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · May 2020
Interventions aiming to reduce time to antibiotics (TTA) in patients with fever and neutropenia during chemotherapy for cancer (FN), a systematic review.
Multiple interventions have been developed aiming to reduce time to antibiotics (TTA) in patients with fever and neutropenia (FN) following chemotherapy for cancer. We evaluated their effect to reduce TTA and their impact on important clinical outcomes in a systematic review. ⋯ This review may help centers to identify their specific sources of delay and barriers to change and to define what intervention may be the best to apply. This review supports the assertion that TTA can be considered a measure of quality of care, emphasizes the importance of education and training, and describes the very different interventions which have effectively reduced TTA.
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Support Care Cancer · May 2020
Psychological morbidity in women diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ compared with women with early breast cancer receiving radiotherapy.
Despite having an excellent prognosis, patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) report significant anxiety and depression following diagnosis. This study evaluated psychological morbidity using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) in patients with DCIS compared with women with early-stage invasive breast cancer (EIBC) receiving radiotherapy (RT). ⋯ Women with DCIS experience relatively less psychological morbidity than women with EIBC, pre- and post-RT.
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Support Care Cancer · Apr 2020
Observational StudySleep quality in hospitalized patients with advanced cancer: an observational study using self-reports of sleep and actigraphy.
Although patients with advanced cancer report poor sleep quality, few studies have assessed sleep quality with a combination of subjective and objective measures. We aimed to examine sleep quality in hospitalized patients with advanced cancer by combining patient-reported outcome-measures (PROMs) and polysomnography (PSG) or actigraphy. ⋯ PROMs and actigraphy documented poor sleep quality, but a lack of agreement across methods. The study demonstrates a need to improve assessment of sleep quality and treatment of sleep disturbance in hospitalized patients with advanced cancer near end of life.
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Support Care Cancer · Apr 2020
Observational StudyPain management index (PMI)-does it reflect cancer patients' wish for focus on pain?
The pain management index (PMI) was developed to combine information about the prescribed analgesics and the self-reported pain intensity in order to assess physicians' response to patients' pain. However, PMI has been used to explore undertreatment of cancer pain. The present study explores prevalence of negative PMI and its associations to clinical variables, including the patient-perceived wish for more attention to pain. ⋯ A high prevalence of negative PMI was observed, but only 1/5 of patients with a negative PMI wanted more attention to pain by their physician. Our findings challenge the use of PMI as a measure of undertreatment of cancer pain.
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Support Care Cancer · Apr 2020
Patient-reported outcomes in light of supportive medications in treatment-naïve lung cancer patients.
The impact of supportive medications on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) has not been systematically evaluated. We describe the supportive medications used by treatment-naïve lung cancer patients and assess their association with PROs from MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI). ⋯ Our results suggest a need for better screening for pain and depression and optimization of pain management in treatment-naïve lung cancer patients since their poor functional status may result in suboptimal cancer therapy.