Browse Items · Pediatric Palliative Care Library

Satisfaction with information provided to Danish cancer patients: validation and survey results

OBJECTIVES: To validate five items (CPWQ-inf) regarding satisfaction with information provided to cancer patients from health care staff, assess the prevalence of dissatisfaction with this information, and identify factors predicting dissatisfaction.…

Ethnicity, race, and advance directives in an inpatient palliative care consultation service.

OBJECTIVE: Although race and ethnic background are known to be important factors in the completion of advance directives, there is a dearth of literature specifically investigating the effect of race and ethnicity on advance directive completion rate…

Tags: 2013, 80 And Over, Adult, Advance Directives/eh [Ethnology], African Americans/statistics & numerical data, Aged, Asian Continental Ancestry Group/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data], Attitude to Death/eh [Ethnology], Backlog, Cooper LB, Cross-cultural Comparison, Decision Making, DNAR, European Continental Ancestry Group/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data], Female, Hispanic Americans/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data], Humans, Journal Article, Lesser ML, Liberman T, Male, Middle Aged, Mir Tanveer P, New York/ep [Epidemiology], Nouryan CN, Palliative & Supportive Care, Palliative Care/og [Organization & Administration], Pekmezaris R, Program Evaluation, Referral and Consultation/og [Organization & Administration], Resuscitation Orders, Sison CP, Spirituality, Terminal Care/og [organization & Administration], Wolf-Klein GP, Zaide GB

Neuropathic cancer pain: prevalence, severity, analgesics and impact from the European Palliative Care Research Collaborative-Computerised Symptom Assessment study

BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain causes greater pain intensity and worse quality of life than nociceptive pain. There are no published data that confirm this in the cancer population. AIM: We hypothesised that patients with neuropathic cancer pain had…

Integrating oncology and palliative home care in Italy: the experience of the "L'Aquila per la Vita" Home Care Unit

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of a home care program, closely integrated with a medical oncology department. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The charts, prospectively recorded, of all the patients treated at home by the "L'Aquila per la Vita" Home Care Unit…

Care for patients in the last months of life: the Belgian Sentinel Network Monitoring End-of-Life Care study

BACKGROUND: Population-based studies monitoring end-of-life care are lacking. This study describes involvement of caregivers, access to specialist palliative care, treatment goals (cure, life-prolonging, or palliation), and content of end-of-life…

Does palliative care improve quality? A survey of bereaved family members

Palliative care is the interdisciplinary specialty that aims to relieve suffering and improve the quality of care for patients with serious illness and their families. Although palliative care programs are becoming increasingly prevalent in U.S.…

International comparison study on the primary concerns of terminally ill cancer patients in short-term life review interviews among Japanese, Koreans, and Americans

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the primary concerns of terminally ill cancer patients in a Short-Term Life Review among Japanese, Koreans, and Americans to develop intervention programs to be tailored to patients in other…

Psychological distress in cancer patients assessed with an expert rating scale

The purpose of this study was to investigate psychosocial stress in a large sample of cancer patients using an expert rating scale. Specific aims were to analyse the relevance of setting variables (type of clinic, contact initiative, therapy) and…

A communication strategy and brochure for relatives of patients dying in the ICU

BACKGROUND: There is a need for close communication with relatives of patients dying in the intensive care unit (ICU). We evaluated a format that included a proactive end-of-life conference and a brochure to see whether it could lessen the effects of…

End-of-life practices in the Netherlands under the Euthanasia Act

BACKGROUND: In 2002, an act regulating the ending of life by a physician at the request of a patient with unbearable suffering came into effect in the Netherlands. In 2005, we performed a follow-up study of euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, and…

Using drugs to end life without an explicit request of the patient

A small proportion of deaths result from the use of drugs with the intention to hasten death without an explicit request of the patient. Additional insight into its characteristics is needed for evaluating this practice. In the Netherlands in 2001,…

A short form of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory

A short form of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI-SF) is described. A sample of 1351 adults who had completed the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) in previous studies provided the basis for item selection. The resulting 10-item form…

The economic and clinical impact of an inpatient palliative care consultation service: a multifaceted approach

BACKGROUND: While there has been a rapid increase of inpatient palliative care (PC) programs, the financial and clinical benefits have not been well established. OBJECTIVE: Determine the effect of an inpatient PC consultation service on costs and…

Determinants of do-not-resuscitate orders in palliative home care.

OVERVIEW: Do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders allow home care clients to communicate their own wishes over medical treatment decisions, helping to preserve their dignity and autonomy. To date, little is known about DNR orders in palliative home care.…

Impact of writing "comfort measures only" orders in a community teaching hospital.

OBJECTIVES: We compared end-of-life care for patients with and without orders for "comfort measures only" (CMO) and evaluated whether standards for palliative medicine were met., DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 40 patients, 20 with…

Advance directives and do-not-resuscitate orders in patients with cancer with metastatic spinal cord compression: advanced care planning implications.

OBJECTIVES: Communication about end-of-life decisions is crucial. Although patients with metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) have a median survival time of 3 to 6 months, few data are available concerning the presence of advance directives and…

Sibling death and death fear in relation to depressive symptomatology in older adults

Previously overlooked factors in elders' depressive symptomatology were examined, including death fear, sibling death, and sibling closeness. Participants were 150 elders (61 men, 89 women) aged 65-97 years with at least one sibling. Measures were…

The experiences of Chinese family members of terminally ill patients - a qualitative study

AIM: To describe and understand the experiences of Chinese family members of terminally ill patients during the end of life process in a palliative care unit. BACKGROUND: Palliative care aims to provide care to dying patients and their family…

Beta-endorphin, Met-enkephalin and corresponding opioid receptors within synovium of patients with joint trauma, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVE: Intra-articularly applied opioid agonists or antagonists modulate pain after knee surgery and in chronic arthritis. Therefore, the expression of beta-endorphin (END), Met-enkephalin (ENK), and mu and delta opioid receptors (ORs) within…

The triad that matters: palliative medicine, code status, and health care costs.

INTRODUCTION: Delayed discussion of a patient's code status can lead to shortsighted care plans that increase hospital length of stay (LOS) and costs., METHODS: Retrospective study compared intensive care unit (ICU) patients who accepted verses…

Tags: 2010, 80 And Over, Aged, Backlog, Celso BG, Code status, Critical Illness/ec [Economics], Critical Illness/ep [Epidemiology], Direct Service Costs/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data], DNAR, DNAR Outcomes, Emergency Service, Equipment and Supplies, Female, Health Care Cost, Hospice, Hospital Costs/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data], Hospital/ec [Economics], Hospital/ut [Utilization], Humans, Intensive Care/ec [Economics], Intensive Care/ut [Utilization], Journal Article, Laboratories, Length of Stay/ec [Economics], Length of Stay/sn [Statistics & Numerical Data], Male, Meenrajan S, Middle Aged, Operative/ec [Economics], palliation, Palliative Care/ec [economics], Palliative Care/ut [Utilization], Patient Admission, Radiology Department, Respiratory Care Units/ec [Economics], Retrospective Studies, Surgical Procedures, The American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care, United States/ep [Epidemiology]

Emotion regulation in patients with rheumatic diseases: validity and responsiveness of the Emotional Approach Coping Scale (EAC)

BACKGROUND: Chronic rheumatic diseases are painful conditions which are not entirely controllable and can place high emotional demands on individuals. Increasing evidence has shown that emotion regulation in terms of actively processing and…

Paradoxes in advance care planning: the complex relationship of oncology patients, their physicians, and advance medical directives.

PURPOSE: Many seriously ill patients with cancer do not discuss prognosis or advance directives (ADs), which may lead to inappropriate and/or unwanted aggressive care at the end of life. Ten years ago, patients with cancer said they would not like to…

Efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam versus phenytoin after supratentorial neurosurgery

BACKGROUND: Antiepileptic drugs are routinely given after craniotomy. Though phenytoin (PHT) is still the most commonly used agent, levetiracetam (LEV) is increasingly administered for this purpose. This retrospective study compared the use of LEV…

Prognostic factors for survival in 676 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed primary glioblastoma

Reliable data on large cohorts of patients with glioblastoma are needed because such studies differ importantly from trials that have a strong bias toward the recruitment of younger patients with a higher performance status. We analyzed the outcome…

The reflections you get': an exploration of body image and cachexia.

BACKGROUND: cachexia has a detrimental effect on quality of life and is an indicator of poor prognosis. The meanings people attach to their lived experiences of cachexia are unknown. AIMS: to explore the impact of cachexia on body image of people…

Symptom pathways from referral to death: measuring palliative care outcomes.

This article reports on the first stage of a process to develop a clinical performance indicator for a community-based palliative care service that may inform the development of an agreed set of indicators for the whole sector. The study explores…

Handgrip strength and mortality in the oldest old population: the Leiden 85-plus study

BACKGROUND: Poor muscular strength has been shown to be associated with increased morbidity and mortality in diverse samples of middle-aged and elderly people. However, the oldest old population (i.e., over 85 years) is underrepresented in such…

Physician-assisted deaths under the euthanasia law in Belgium: a population-based survey

BACKGROUND: Legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide has been heavily debated in many countries. To help inform this debate, we describe the practices of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and the use of life-ending drugs without an…

An overview of contemporary social work practice in palliative care.

First documented rhythm and clinical outcome from in-hospital cardiac arrest among children and adults

CONTEXT: Cardiac arrests in adults are often due to ventricular fibrillation (VF) or pulseless ventricular tachycardia (VT), which are associated with better outcomes than asystole or pulseless electrical activity (PEA). Cardiac arrests in children…

Psychometric properties of the Dutch version of the posttraumatic growth inventory among cancer patients

In the current study, we investigated the psychometric properties of a Dutch translation of the posttraumatic growth inventory in a heterogeneous group of cancer patients. Its original five-factor structure was maintained. The internal consistency of…

Experience in the use of the palliative care outcome scale.

GOALS OF WORK: The objective of the study is to assess the Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS) as a potential audit tool within a specialist cancer centre. It also aims to answer the following questions: does the tool identify problem areas and…

Safety and efficacy of rosuvastatin therapy for the prevention of hyperlipidemia in adult cardiac transplant recipients

BACKGROUND: Hyperlipidemia after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) is associated with immunosuppression. Many OHT patients have increased lipid levels above published guidelines despite treatment with high doses of statins. Treatment with…

Interaction of serotonergic antidepressants and opioid analgesics: Is serotonin syndrome going undetected?

OBJECTIVES: To describe the potential for interaction between opioids and serotonergic antidepressants leading to the development of serotonin syndrome (SS), mechanism of the interaction, and the spectrum of SS in elderly residents of a long-term…

HIV/AIDS symptom management in Southern Africa

We describe self-reported strategies used by persons living with HIV/AIDS in Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa, and Swaziland to manage common HIV-related symptoms. A questionnaire asked participants to list three to six symptoms they had recently…

Resource utilization for ovarian cancer patients at the end of life: how much is too much?

OBJECTIVE: End-of-life (EOL) medical care consumes 10-12% of national health care expenditures and 27% of Medicare dollars annually. Studies suggest that hospice services decrease EOL expenditures by 25-40%. The goal of this study was to compare the…

Nonheart failure-associated elevation of amino terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in the setting of sepsis

In addition to its importance in clinical assessment, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP) is a valuable marker for evaluation of treatment and prognosis of heart failure. However, there are situations where NT pro-BNP is not related…

The benefits of a hospital-based inpatient palliative care consultation service: preliminary outcome data

This report describes the multiple complementary analytic methods used to create a composite evaluation of the benefits of a hospital-based inpatient palliative care consultation service at Montefiore Medical Center in its preliminary phase. We…

Prognostication in hospice care: can the palliative performance scale help?

BACKGROUND: Accurate prognostication of the trajectory of an illness provides multiple benefits in end-of-life care. Prognostic information facilitates more realistic decision making regarding ongoing treatment, fosters risk-benefit considerations of…

Final transitions: family caregiving at the end of life

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to understand how caregivers make the transition to end-stage caregiving and to illuminate its unique aspects using a stress process model. METHODS: Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 74 caregivers of a…

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