Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
ReviewFrom sedation to continuous sedation until death: how has the conceptual basis of sedation in end-of-life care changed over time?
Numerous attempts have been made to describe and define sedation in end-of-life care over time. However, confusion and inconsistency in the use of terms and definitions persevere in the literature, making interpretation, comparison, and extrapolation of many studies and case analyses problematic. ⋯ There is a pressing need to resolve the conceptual confusion that currently exists in the literature to bring clarity to the dialogue and build a base of commonality on which to design research and enhance the practice of sedation in end-of-life care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
The cost-effectiveness of the decision to hospitalize nursing home residents with advanced dementia.
Nursing home (NH) residents with advanced dementia commonly experience burdensome and costly hospitalizations that may not extend survival or improve quality of life. Cost-effectiveness analyses of decisions to hospitalize these residents have not been reported. ⋯ Treatment strategies favoring hospitalization for NH residents with advanced dementia are not cost effective.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
Multicenter Study Observational StudyBreakthrough cancer pain: an observational study of 1000 European oncology patients.
Breakthrough pain is common in patients with cancer and is a significant cause of morbidity in this group of patients. ⋯ Breakthrough cancer pain is an extremely heterogeneous condition.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialExploring oral literacy in communication with hospice caregivers.
Low oral literacy has been identified as a barrier to pain management for informal caregivers who receive verbal instructions on pain medication and pain protocols. ⋯ As the grade level of talk with caregivers and hospice teams increased, associated caregiver anxiety increased. Caregivers with higher anxiety also experienced greater difficulty in understanding pain medication and its management. Specific adjustments that hospice teams can make to improve caregiver experiences are identified.