Acta Medica Port
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The Modified British Medical Research Council Questionnaire is considered an adequate and simple measure of breathlessness in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is widely used in clinical practice in Portugal, but it still lacks confirmatory evaluation for the Portuguese setting. The aim of this study was to perform a cultural adaptation and validation of the Modified British Medical Research Council Questionnaire so that its most suitable version can be made available to researchers and clinicians in Portugal. ⋯ The Portuguese version of the Modified British Medical Research Council Questionnaire is a valid instrument for measurement of breathlessness in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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Hyponatremia is frequent in cancer patients, as many studies carried out in these patients have shown. However, there are only a few studies carried out at the end of life and in palliative care. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hyponatremia in cancer patients in the palliative care department of an oncology center and its association with survival. ⋯ Hyponatremia is common in cancer patients receiving palliative care but did not seem to influence survival.
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Observational Study
Process Evaluation of a Mixed Methods Feasibility Study to Identify Hospital Patients with Palliative Care Needs in Portugal.
Evidence shows most patients are not recognised by their attending healthcare professionals as having palliative needs. This feasibility study aimed to aid healthcare professionals identify hospital patients with palliative needs. ⋯ There is an urgent need to provide generalist palliative care training to clinicians.
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Since the publication of endovascular treatment trials and European Stroke Guidelines, Portugal has re-organized stroke healthcare. The nine centers performing endovascular treatment are not equally distributed within the country, which may lead to differential access to endovascular treatment. Our main aim was to perform a descriptive analysis of the main treatment metrics regarding endovascular treatment in mainland Portugal and its administrative districts. ⋯ The overall national rate of EVT in the first two years after the organization of EVT-capable centers is one of the highest among European countries, however, significant regional disparities were documented. Moreover, stroke-onset-to-first-door times and in-hospital procedural times in the EVT centers were comparable to those reported in the randomized controlled trials performed in high-volume tertiary hospitals.