Journal of pain and symptom management
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2013
Does health status affect perceptions of factors influencing dignity at the end of life?
More people are surviving into old age, and chronic diseases tend to become more common with age. Ill health and disability can lead to concerns about loss of personal dignity. ⋯ Health status seems only to affect the perceptions of physical factors maintaining dignity at the end of life. This might suggest that the understanding of dignity will not substantially change as health status changes and may support starting advance care planning early.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2013
Review Meta AnalysisCut points on 0-10 numeric rating scales for symptoms included in the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale in cancer patients: a systematic review.
To improve the management of cancer-related symptoms, systematic screening is necessary, often performed by using 0-10 numeric rating scales. Cut points are used to determine if scores represent clinically relevant burden. ⋯ For many symptoms, there is no clear evidence as to what the optimal cut points are. In daily clinical practice, a symptom score ≥4 is recommended as a trigger for a more comprehensive symptom assessment. Until there is more evidence on the optimal cut points, we should hold back using a certain cut point in quality indicators and be cautious about strongly recommending a certain cut point in guidelines.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2013
Review Meta AnalysisContinuous sedation (CS) until death: mapping the literature by bibliometric analysis.
Sedation at the end of life, regardless of the nomenclature, is an increasingly debated practice at both clinical and bioethical levels. However, little is known about the characteristics and trends in scientific publications in this field of study. ⋯ This is the first bibliometric analysis on continuous sedation until death that can be used to inform future studies. Further research is needed to refine controversies on terminology and ethical acceptability of the practice, as well as conditions and modalities of its use.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialBupropion for control of hot flashes in breast cancer survivors: a prospective, double-blind, randomized, crossover, pilot phase II trial.
Hot flashes (HFs) and sexual dysfunction often affect breast cancer (BC) survivors and compromise their quality of life. Bupropion is an antidepressive medication used for smoking cessation and also has been previously studied for the treatment of sexual dysfunction. ⋯ Compared with placebo, bupropion did not control HFs in this group of BC survivors.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2013
Clinical Trial"All my tears were gone": suffering and cancer pain in Southwest American Indians.
Although minority patients with cancer are more likely to be undermedicated for cancer pain than non-Hispanic whites, little is known about the experience of cancer pain in American Indians (AIs). ⋯ Results revealed new knowledge about the cancer pain experience in AIs. The observation of the close relationship between treatment compliance and the patient's ability to participate in ceremonial and spiritual activities provides new insight into the problem of incomplete cancer treatment in this population. The finding that AI patients have a multidimensional conceptualization of pain will assist clinicians with obtaining more detailed and informative pain assessments.