BMC palliative care
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2012
Evaluation of a hospice rapid response community service: a controlled evaluation.
While most people faced with a terminal illness would prefer to die at home, less than a third in England are enabled to do so with many dying in National Health Service hospitals. Patients are more likely to die at home if their carers receive professional support. Hospice rapid response teams, which provide specialist palliative care at home on a 24/7 on-call basis, are proposed as an effective way to help terminally ill patients die in their preferred place, usually at home. However, the effectiveness of rapid response teams has not been rigorously evaluated in terms of patient, carer and cost outcomes. ⋯ The study will contribute to the development of the evidence base on outcomes for patients and carers and costs of hospice rapid response teams operating in the community.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2012
Outcomes 'out of africa': the selection and implementation of outcome measures for palliative care in Africa.
End-of-life care research across Africa is under-resourced and under-developed. A central issue in research in end-of-life care is the measurement of effects and outcomes of care on patients and families. Little is known about the experiences of health professionals' selection and implementation of outcome measures (OM) in clinical care, research, audit, or teaching in Africa. ⋯ This was the first survey on professionals' views on OM in Africa. It showed that the APCA African POS was the most frequently OM used. Training and support are needed to help professionals utilise OM in palliative care, and OMs have an ongoing and important role in palliative care in Africa.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2012
Factors associated with the severity and improvement of fatigue in patients with advanced cancer presenting to an outpatient palliative care clinic.
⋯ CRF is strongly associated with physical and emotional symptoms. Genitourinary cancer and low appetite at baseline were associated with successful improvement of fatigue.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2012
Assessment of the face validity of two pain scales in Kenya: a validation study using cognitive interviewing.
Patients in sub-Saharan Africa commonly experience pain, which often is un-assessed and undertreated. One hindrance to routine pain assessment in these settings is the lack of a single-item pain rating scale validated for the particular context. The goal of this study was to examine the face validity and cultural acceptability of two single-item pain scales, the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) and the Faces Pain Scale-Revised (FPS-R), in a population of patients on the medical, surgical, and pediatric wards of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya. ⋯ The face validity and acceptability of the Swahili versions of the NRS and FPS-R has been demonstrated for use in Kenyan patients. The broader application of these scales should be evaluated and may benefit patients who currently suffer from pain.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2012
Electronic monitoring of symptoms and syndromes associated with cancer: methods of a randomized controlled trial SAKK 95/06 E-MOSAIC.
⋯ This trial will contribute to the research question, whether structured, longitudinal monitoring of patients' multidimensional symptoms, indicators for symptom management, and clinical benefit outcomes can influence patients' quality of life and symptom distress, in a setting of routine oncology practice.