Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
Multicenter StudyRoutine prescribing of gabapentin or pregabalin in supportive and palliative care: what are the comparative performances of the medications in a palliative care population?
Neuropathic pain is a prevalent and distressing problem faced by people with life-limiting illness that is often difficult to palliate. Gabapentin and pregabalin are widely prescribed as part of the routine approach to palliating neuropathic pain. Although they are often viewed as interchangeable agents, very little comparative data of their benefits and harms exists in clinical practice. ⋯ The final pain scores were similar for both groups, and the reduction in pain were similar (OR = 11.2; 95 % CI 3.9, 32.7, p < 0.001). However, this was achieved at lower doses of gabapentin compared to pregabalin. Those receiving gabapentin were more likely to experience harms (OR = 3.5; 95 % CI 1.4, 9.1, p = 0.009) with the reported harms including somnolence, ataxia, nausea, tremor and nystagmus This hypothesis-generating work strongly supports the need for further trials to best delineate clinical differences in the GABA analogues.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
Whose role? Oncology practitioners' perceptions of their role in providing spiritual care to advanced cancer patients.
The purpose of this study is to determine how oncology nurses and physicians view their role in providing spiritual care (SC), factors influencing this perception, and how this belief affects SC provision. ⋯ Nurses are more likely than physicians to perceive medical practitioners as having a role in SC provision. Physicians' perceptions of their role in SC provision are influenced by their religious/spiritual characteristics and are predictive of actual SC provision to patients. Spiritual care training that includes improved understanding of clinicians' appropriate role in SC provision to severely ill patients may lead to increased SC provision.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
The psychometric properties of the Korean version of the functional assessment of cancer therapy-cognitive (FACT-Cog) in Korean patients with breast cancer.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Korean version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Cognitive scale (FACT-Cog) in patients with breast cancer in Korea. ⋯ The Korean version of the FACT-Cog is a valid and reliable scale to measure self-reporting of cognitive impairment in patients with breast cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
Incongruent perceptions of pain and physical function among families living with lung cancer.
The purpose of the study was to examine the roles of concealment and communication in incongruence in perceptions of the lung cancer patient's physical function and pain severity. ⋯ Open communication and disclosure play important roles in the appraisal of symptoms within the lung cancer patient-family member dyad. These interpersonal factors may be promising targets for interventions to maximize patient and family member outcomes.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2015
Minimal clinically important differences in the EORTC QLQ-BN20 in patients with brain metastases.
Quality of life (QOL) is an important treatment endpoint in advanced cancer patients with brain metastases. In clinical trials, statistically significant changes can be reached in a large enough population; however, these changes may not be clinically relevant. ⋯ Understanding MCIDs allows physicians to determine the impact of treatment on patients' QOL and allows for determination of sample sizes for clinical trials. Future studies should be conducted to validate our findings in a larger population of patients with brain metastases.