Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2018
Clinicians' perceptions of medication errors with opioids in cancer and palliative care services: a priority setting report.
This paper reports the findings of a priority setting process, undertaken with cancer and palliative care clinicians, to better understand the characteristics of medication errors with opioids within their services. Participants representing six public hospitals in one Australian state took part in a series of priority setting workshops and, drawing on actual incidents occurring in their services, sought to identify where in the opioid medication process errors were most frequently occurring. ⋯ The priority setting process provided valuable insights into the types of opioid errors that occur in cancer and palliative care services and the complexity of addressing opioid errors from the clinician's perspective. The findings from this priority setting process will inform future targeted quality improvement initiatives to support safe opioid medication practices in cancer and palliative care services.
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2018
The perceptions and experiences of osteopathic treatment among cancer patients in palliative care: a qualitative study.
This research aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of cancer patients receiving osteopathic treatment as a complementary therapy when it is used in addition to conventional treatment for cancer pain. ⋯ The findings of this study provides preliminary data which suggests, when delivered alongside existing medical care, osteopathy may have health benefits for patients with complex conditions such as cancer.
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Advanced imaging can inform prognosis and may be a mechanism to de-escalate unnecessary end-of-life care in patients with cancer. Associations between greater use of advanced imaging and less-aggressive end-of-life care in real-world practice has not been examined. ⋯ In this population-based retrospective study, we did not observe evidence that overall and timely hospice are associated with higher rates of imaging near the end of life. An observed association between higher rates of imaging, particularly CT, may be explained in part by HRR-level differences in practice patterns and patient demographic characteristics. Further research is warranted to explore the ability of oncologic imaging to appropriately de-escalate care.
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Support Care Cancer · Oct 2018
Predicting symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients living with advanced cancer: the differential roles of hope and optimism.
Psychological distress is related to poorer functioning and reduced quality of life in patients with advanced cancer and may have untoward influences on treatment decisions. Current research on factors associated with this distress is limited, making targeted interventions to reduce it suboptimal. We examined the relationships between two goal-related expectancies and two of the most common symptoms of psychological distress in patients living with advanced cancer: anxiety and depressive symptoms. ⋯ Hope and optimism appear to be associated with different aspects of psychological distress in patients living with advanced cancer. This may be explained by different appraisals of the uncertainty and distress that are associated with living with advanced-stage cancer. Hope- or optimism-focused interventions can be tailored to help alleviate specific aspects of psychological distress among these patients.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2018
Echocardiography has low utility in cancer patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia: findings from a retrospective study.
To describe the incidence of infective endocarditis (IE) detected on echocardiography in cancer patients with confirmed Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB). ⋯ IE is infrequent in cancer patients with uncomplicated SAB and no risk factors for IE. Performing echocardiography routinely in all cancer patients with SAB rarely alters diagnosis or affects antibiotic management and therefore should be reserved for patients with specific risk factors.