Journal of palliative medicine
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Seriously ill hospitalized patients and their loved ones are frequently faced with complex treatment decisions laden with expressions of emotional distress during palliative care (PC) consultations. Little is known about these emotional expressions or the compassionate responses providers make and how common these are in PC decision-making conversations. ⋯ Expressions of emotional distress are common during PC consultations and are usually met with compassionate responses by the clinician.
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Depression and pain often coexist in terminally ill patients, but few studies have examined their relationship among larger samples. Other psychosocial factors experienced by patients may become barriers to pain management and affect the relationship between depression and pain. ⋯ Findings support the positive relationship between depression and pain in terminally ill elders. Feeling lonely may affect the tendency to report pain. To ensure optimal pain management for patients in palliative and end-of-life care, assessment and intervention should focus on the impact of psychosocial factors such as loneliness, and how they may affect elders' reporting of pain.
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Predicting survival time in noncurative patients with advanced cancer: a prospective study in China.
Accurate prediction of prognosis for cancer patients is important for good clinical decision making in therapeutic and care strategies. The application of prognostic tools and indicators could improve prediction accuracy. ⋯ We propose a new prognostic scale including KPS, pain, ascites, hydrothorax, edema, delirium, cachexia, WBC count, hemoglobin, sodium, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, AST, and ALP values, which may help guide physicians in predicting the likely survival time of cancer patients more accurately. More studies are needed to validate this scale in the future.