Journal of pain and symptom management
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2014
Repeated assessments of symptom severity improve predictions for risk of death among patients with cancer.
Although prior studies show the importance of self-reported symptom scores as predictors of cancer survival, most are based on scores recorded at a single point in time. ⋯ If available, researchers should consider including changing information on symptom scores, as opposed to only baseline information on symptom scores, when examining hazard of death among patients with cancer. Worsening of pain, fatigue, and appetite may be a flag for impending death.
-
There is little known about the pattern of change in patient-family member symptom incongruence across the lung cancer trajectory. ⋯ Findings suggest the importance of modeling symptom incongruence over time and taking a dyadic approach to the illness context to identify interventions that promote adjustment and quality of life for both patient and family member.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2014
Complexities in euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide as perceived by Dutch physicians and patients' relatives.
The practice of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (EAS) is always complex, but some cases are more complex than others. The nature of these unusually complex cases is not known. ⋯ First, the process toward EAS may be disrupted, causing a complex situation. Second, the course of the process toward EAS is influenced not only by the patient and his/her attending physician but also by the relatives who are involved. Communicating and clarifying expectations throughout the process may help to prevent the occurrence of unusually complex situations.