Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2016
Level of Discomfort Decreases After the Administration of Continuous Palliative Sedation: A Prospective Multicenter Study in Hospices and Palliative Care Units.
A gold standard or validated tool for monitoring the level of discomfort during continuous palliative sedation (CPS) is lacking. Therefore, little is known about the course of discomfort in sedated patients, the efficacy of CPS, and the determinants of discomfort during CPS. ⋯ This study shows that CPS is associated with a decrease in the level of discomfort within an acceptable time frame, although in some sedated patients higher levels of discomfort in the last hours of life occurred. Although the DS-DAT seems to be of value for monitoring the level of discomfort during CPS, the results of this study should be interpreted within the constraints of the limitations, and further research on the psychometric properties of this tool is needed before the DS-DAT can be used in clinical practice.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2016
Significant Morbidity and Mortality Among Hospitalized End-Stage Liver Disease Patients in Medicare.
For end-stage liver disease (ESLD) patients, care focuses on managing the life-threatening complications of portal hypertension, causing high resource utilization. ⋯ The results of this study show that morbidity and mortality rates associated with end of life in ESLD are substantial. There is an acute need for alternative approaches to manage the care of ESLD patients.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2016
Psychometric Properties of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Neutropenia (FACT-N) in Asian Cancer Patients with Chemotherapy-Induced Neutropenia.
The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Neutropenia (FACT-N) is a neutropenia-specific questionnaire to assess patients' health-related quality of life. ⋯ The FACT-N is a valid and reliable instrument to be used in clinical practice to evaluate the health-related quality of life among multiethnic Asian patients with CIN.