Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2016
Assessing Emotional Suffering in Palliative Care: Use of a Structured Note Template to Improve Documentation.
Documentation of the emotional or psychological needs of seriously ill patients receiving specialty palliative care is endorsed by the "Measuring What Matters" project as a quality performance metric and recommended for use by hospice and palliative care programs for program improvement. ⋯ A structured note template with a prompt for emotional assessment increases the overall quantity and richness of documentation related to patient and family emotions. However, this documentation remains mostly descriptive. Additional prompting for documentation of recommendations to address identified emotional needs, and the use of screening tools for depression and anxiety, when appropriate, may be necessary for clinically meaningful quality improvements in patient care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2016
Association Between Symptom Burden and Time to Hospitalization, Nursing Home Placement, and Death Among the Chronically Ill Urban Homebound.
Homebound adults experience significant symptom burden. ⋯ The homebound with severe symptom burden represents a unique cohort of patients who are at increased risk of hospitalization. Tailored symptom management via home-based primary and palliative care programs may prevent unnecessary health care utilization in this population.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2016
Dexamethasone for Dyspnea in Cancer Patients: A Pilot Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled Trial.
Dexamethasone is often used to treat dyspnea in cancer patients, but evidence is lacking. ⋯ A double-blind, randomized, controlled trial of dexamethasone was feasible with a low attrition rate. Our preliminary data suggest that dexamethasone may be associated with rapid improvement in dyspnea and was well tolerated. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2016
Spiritual Needs of Families with Bereavement and Loss of an Infant in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Study.
The hospital is a place full of distress and questions about the meaning of life. The death of a child can cause a spiritual struggle and crisis. Therefore, it is necessary for health care providers in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to assess the spiritual needs of families that have lost a child. ⋯ The results of this study created a new vision in addressing spiritual needs of Iranian families who experience the death of a newborn.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2016
Type D Personality in Gastric Cancer Survivors: Association with Poor Quality of Life, Overall Survival and Mental Health.
The associations between Type D personality and poor quality of life, overall survival, and mental health in gastric cancer survivors. ⋯ Type D personality is associated with poor QoL, three-year overall survival and mental health status among survivors of gastric cancer, even after adjustment of confounding background variables. The Type D personality group experienced increased levels of pain and fatigue compared to non-Type D patients. Type D personality might be a general vulnerability factor to screen for subgroups at risk of longer symptom duration and emergency admissions in clinical practice.