Browse Items · Pediatric Palliative Care Library

Vulnerability and resilience to combat exposure: can stress have lifelong effects?

The purpose of this study was to examine whether appraisals of desirable and undesirable effects of military service mediated the effect of combat stress on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in later life in 1,287 male veterans, aged…

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…

Medical care utilization by incurable cancer patients in a Swedish county

A retrospective study of patients with cancer diagnoses treated at a Swedish county hospital was carried out in order to analyse medical care utilization by incurable cancer patients. All 208 patients customarily treated at the Department of General…

Decisions to forgo life-sustaining therapy in ICU patients independently predict hospital death

OBJECTIVE: More than one-half the deaths of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) occur after a decision to forgo life-sustaining therapy (DFLST). Although DFLSTs typically occur in patients with severe comorbidities and intractable acute…

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…

Resource utilization and outcome in gravely ill intensive care unit patients with predicted in-hospital mortality rates of 95% or higher by APACHE III scores: the relationship with physician and family expectations

OBJECTIVE: To assess resource utilization and outcome in gravely ill patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) and the potential association with health care workers' and family members' expectations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively…

Ketamine-fentanyl-midazolam infusion for the control of symptoms in terminal life care

In this report, we describe nine terminally ill patients with metastatic cancer who were treated with an intravenous infusion consisting of ketamine (2 mg/ml)/fentanyl (5 micrograms/ml)/midazolam (0.1 mg/ml) (K/F/M) to control pain after traditional…

Is an advance care planning model feasible in community palliative care? A multi-site action research approach.

AIM: This article reports a study to determine the feasibility of an advance care planning model developed with Australian community palliative care services., BACKGROUND: An effective advance care planning programme involves an organizational wide…

Facilitating day-to-day decision making in palliative care

As part of a larger grounded theory study investigating the process by which palliative care patients make everyday choices, a secondary analysis of data was conducted to investigate the ways nurses support or restrict patients' participation in…

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.…

Advanced illness index: Predictive modeling to stratify elders using self-report data

OBJECTIVES: Develop a prediction model to identify persons who have an increased risk of dying within the next 36 months, in order to focus additional resources and assessment in areas related to advanced care planning. DESIGN: Retrospective study…

Opioid rotation in patients with cancer pain. A retrospective comparison of dose ratios between methadone, hydromorphone, and morphine

BACKGROUND. When a change of opioid is considered, equianalgesic dose tables are used. These tables generally propose a dose ratio of 5:1 between morphine and hydromorphone. In the case of a change from subcutaneous hydromorphone to methadone, dose…

An overview of contemporary social work practice in palliative care.

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…

Recruiting for research in hospice: feasibility of a research screening protocol

BACKGROUND: The growth of palliative care research has been limited by challenges of slow recruitment and underenrollment. One potential solution to this problem is the use of screening questions embedded in clinical data collection, which identify…

Does a palliative care clinic have a role in improving end-of-life care? Results of a pilot program

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of a palliative care clinic (PCC), which provided some of the interdisciplinary services and expertise of an inpatient consult service to outpatients, in traditional clinic sessions. DESIGN: Chart review. SETTING: A…

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]

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…

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 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…

Positive aspects of caregiving: rounding out the caregiver experience

OBJECTIVES: To identify positive aspects of caregiving and examine how they are associated with caregiver outcomes. METHOD: This study used a national sample of caregivers derived from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (part 2). Two hundred and…

The McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire: a measure of quality of life appropriate for people with advanced disease. A preliminary study of validity and acceptability

This is the first report on the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL), a questionnaire relevant to all phases of the disease trajectory for people with a life-threatening illness. This questionnaire differs from most others in three ways: the…

Hospital charges for a community inpatient palliative care program

Defining financial parameters of palliative care (PC) is important for providing sustainable programming. In our study, we evaluated hospital length of stay (LOS) and charges for the first 164 inpatient PC consultations performed by the Advanced…

Adverse events in hospice and palliative care: a pilot study to determine feasibility of collection and baseline rates

BACKGROUND: Continuous quality improvement is fundamental in all health care, including hospice and palliative care. Identifying and systematically reducing symptomatic adverse events is limited in hospice and palliative care because these events are…

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…

Survival duration among patients with a noncancer diagnosis admitted to a palliative care unit: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Palliative care unit (PCU) beds are a limited resource in Canada, so PCU admission is restricted to patients with a short prognosis. Anecdotally, PCUs further restrict admission of patients with noncancer diagnoses out of fear that they…

Talking with terminally ill patients and their caregivers about death, dying, and bereavement: is it stressful? Is it helpful?

BACKGROUND: Discussing end-of-life issues with terminally ill patients is often considered distressing and harmful. This study was conducted to assess whether interviewing terminally ill patients and their caregivers about death, dying, and…

The effect of inpatient hospice units on hospice use post-admission

The objective of this study was to determine whether having a hospice unit within the hospital increases the proportion of terminally ill patients who use hospice services (including home, nursing home, or inpatient hospice) post-admission. Using…

A randomized, controlled trial of intravenous clodronate in patients with metastatic bone disease and pain

To evaluate the effectiveness of intravenous clodronate in ameliorating refractory bone pain in patients with metastatic bone disease, 60 patients with established osseous metastases and persistent bone pain were randomized to receive either…

A double-blind, crossover trial of intravenous clodronate in metastatic bone pain

After a baseline symptom and laboratory assessment, 24 patients with metastatic bone disease and pain were randomized to receive either a 4-hr intravenous infusion of 2-dichloromethylene bisphosphonate (Cl2MDP), 600 mg in 500 mL of normal saline, or…

Issues in end-of-life care: patient, caregiver, and clinician perceptions

CONTEXT: Review of published research indicates the need to better incorporate patient and caregiver perceptions when providing end-of-life (EOL) care. Although considerable research regarding patient and caregiver experience of EOL has been done,…

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…

Analgesic effects of topical methadone: a report of four cases

Topical morphine has been used on open wounds for pain management, but has a variable duration of action not suitable for palliative dressing changes. The objective of this study is to find an opioid and delivery method that would provide…

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.…

The efficacy and side effects of continuous infusion intravenous morphine (CIVM) for pain and symptoms due to advanced cancer

Morphine is the strong opioid of choice in the management of moderate-to-severe chronic cancer pain. The preferred route of administration is oral, in individually titrated doses, regularly scheduled around the clock We conducted a retrospective…

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…

Prospective audit of short-term concurrent ketamine, opioid and anti-inflammatory ('triple-agent') therapy for episodes of acute on chronic pain

AIM: This prospective audit was undertaken in order to document the analgesic response and adverse effects of concurrent short-term ('burst') triple-agent analgesic (ketamine, an opioid and an anti-inflammatory agent--either steroidal or…

Clinical problems with the performance of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in The Netherlands

BACKGROUND AND METHODS: The characteristics and frequency of clinical problems with the performance of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are uncertain. We analyzed data from two studies of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in The…

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…

Course of disability and respiratory function in untreated late-onset Pompe disease

Fifty-two untreated patients with late-onset Pompe disease completed questionnaires about their clinical condition and level of handicap at baseline and at 1-year (n = 41) and 2-year follow-ups (n = 40). During this period, declines in functional…

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