Journal of palliative medicine
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Converting between the various opioid agents continues to be challenge for many practitioners. Specifically, variable recommendations for converting to the transdermal fentanyl patch may lead to confusion among clinicians and errors in dosing. ⋯ Underdosing is an often overlooked complication of switching to transdermal fentanyl. Current recommendations for converting to transdermal fentanyl do not reflect contemporary clinical practice and should be reevaluated.
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Review Meta Analysis
Continuity, coordination, and transitions of care for patients with serious and advanced illness: a systematic review of interventions.
Continuity, coordination, and transitions of care are key to high-quality medical care for patients with serious and advanced illness. We conducted a systematic review to evaluate the impact of interventions targeting these areas in this population. ⋯ Many studies were limited by methodologic issues such as use of measurement tools not developed for patients with advanced disease and small sample size. Interventions and outcomes were too heterogeneous for meta-analysis. We found moderate evidence that interventions targeting continuity, coordination, and transitions in patients with advanced and serious illness improve patient and caregiver satisfaction, but low evidence for other outcomes. Further research is needed on how to target these domains for outcomes such as health care utilization.
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Comparative Study
Patterns of complementary and alternative medicine use among Turkish cancer patients.
The aim of this study was to determine the tendency to use complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) by patients with cancer in Turkey, and to compare sociodemographic and medical characteristics, perceptions, and quality of life of users and nonusers of CAM. ⋯ This study showed that CAM use is widespread among Turkish cancer patients and CAM use does not improve QLQ scores. Physicians should be aware of high CAM utilization rate in patients with cancer and should better understand the factors directing the patients to such treatments.