Systematic Symptom Reporting by Pediatric Palliative Care Patients with Cancer: A Preliminary Report
palliative care; patient reported outcomes; pediatric; pediatric oncology; symptom assessment
BACKGROUND: Systematic symptom assessment is not a standard of care in children with cancer. Many well-known symptom assessment tools are lengthy or difficult to integrate into a daily pediatric palliative care practice. We created a series of brief and simple questions to be systematically given to children and their caregivers. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective was to determine the percentage of eligible children and caregivers exposed to the questions that were able to complete the assessment. Secondary objectives included documenting the symptom burden at the time of consultation, evaluating the level of agreement in symptom reporting between children and caregivers, as well as between children/caregivers and the referring medical team. DESIGN: A series of systematic questions were presented to all caregivers (if present) and children who were seven years of age or older at the time of initial consultation with pediatric palliative care. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-two consecutive children/caregiver dyads were given the survey. One hundred seven of 108 (99%) eligible caregivers and 83 of 97 (86%) eligible children completed the survey. Lack of appetite (child-72/83, 87%; caregiver-89/107, 83%) and pain (child-71/83, 86%; caregiver-86/107, 80%) were the most commonly reported symptoms. Caregivers reported irritability (p = 0.005) and nervousness (p < 0.001) more frequently than children. Referring medical teams significantly underdiagnosed psychological and other less clinically evident symptoms such as lack of appetite, fatigue, and sleep disturbance (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our series of questions is easy to complete by children and caregivers. Systematic symptom assessment of children with cancer referred to palliative care should become a true standard of care.
Madden K; Magno C M; Mills S; Dibaj S; Williams J L; Liu D; Bruera E
Journal of Palliative Medicine
2019
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2018.0545" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1089/jpm.2018.0545</a>
A simple system for symptom assessment in pediatric palliative care patients with cancer: A preliminary report
anorexia; caregiver; child; conference abstract; controlled study; fatigue; female; health care quality; human; insomnia; irritability; loss of appetite; major clinical study; male; malignant neoplasm; nervousness; pain; palliative therapy; symptom assessment
Background: Systematic symptom assessment is not a standard of care in children with cancer. Many well-known symptom assessment tools are lengthy or difficult to integrate into a daily pediatric palliative care practice. We created a series of brief and simple questions to be systematically given to children and their caregivers. The primary objective was to determine the percentage of eligible children and caregivers exposed to the questions that were able to complete the assessment. Secondary objectives included documenting the symptom burden at time of consultation, evaluating the level of agreement in symptom reporting between children and caregivers, as well as between children/caregivers and the referring medical team. Method(s): A series of systematic questions were presented to all caregivers (if present) and children who were 7 years of age or older at time of initial consultation with pediatric palliative care. Result(s): 122 consecutive children and caregivers were given the survey. 107/108 (99%) of eligible caregivers and 83/97 (86%) of eligible children successfully completed the survey. Lack of appetite (child - 72/83, 87%; caregiver - 89/107, 83%) and pain (child - 71/83, 86%; caregiver - 86/107, 80%) were the most commonly reported symptoms. Caregivers reported irritability (p = 0.005) and nervousness (p < 0.0001) more frequently than children. Referring medical teams significantly under-diagnosed psychological and other less clinically evident symptoms such as anorexia, fatigue, and insomnia (p < 0.0001). Conclusion(s): Our series of questions is easy to complete by children and caregivers. Systematic symptom assessment of children with cancer needs to become a true standard of care.
Madden K; Charone M; Dibaj S; Mills S; Williams J L; Liu D; Bruera E
Journal of Clinical Oncology. Conference
2018
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2018.36.34_suppl.81" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1200/JCO.2018.36.34_suppl.81</a>
Attitudes, Beliefs, and Practices of Pediatric Palliative Care Physicians Regarding the Use of Methadone in Children with Advanced Cancer
Pediatrics; Pain Management; Methadone; Pediatric Palliative Care; Pediatric Oncology
CONTEXT: Methadone is a long-acting opioid known for its unique pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties. Most research on methadone in children is limited to its effect on the prolongation of the corrected QT (QTc) interval. OBJECTIVES: To better understand the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of pediatric palliative care physicians regarding the use of methadone in children with advanced cancer. METHODS: A survey was sent to The American Academy of Pediatrics Section of Hospice and Palliative Medicine LISTSERV(R). Information on demographics, dosing of methadone, and the use of electrocardiograms (ECGs) was collected. RESULTS: One-hundred and five respondents (91%) provide palliative care to children >/= 50% of the time, and a majority (81, 77%) prescribe methadone. Most (62, 77%) physicians were board-certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine and most (39, 63%) certified via the direct pathway ("grandfathering"). Most physicians (57, 70%) do not use loading doses of methadone. Board-certified physicians trended towards decreasing methadone dose more (40% +/- 19%) than non-board-certified physicians (28%, +/-20%) when changing from the oral to intravenous route (p = 0.07). Respondents defined a QTc interval as "prolonged" (mean +/- SD) at 444 milliseconds (+/-68 milliseconds). The percentage of patients receiving a baseline ECG was 65% (+/-33%). The most common reason for not performing a baseline ECG was that the patient was on hospice (13, 36%). CONCLUSIONS: There are consistent practices, attitudes, and beliefs of pediatric palliative care providers with regards to methadone. More education is needed on the accurate value of a prolonged QTc interval.
Madden K; Liu D; Bruera E
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
2018
<a href="http://doi.org/%2010.1016/j.jpainsymman.2018.11.009" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2018.11.009</a>