Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2017
Iranian Brief Pain Inventory: Validation and application in elderly people with cancer pain.
Cancer is a major health problem in the elderly, and pain is one of the most common symptoms among older patients with cancer. Sufficient pain treatments depend on the accuracy of the pain assessment tool. ⋯ The BPI-IR is a reliable and valid tool for assessing pain among older adults with cancer.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2017
Chronic pain, patient-physician engagement, and family communication associated with drug-using HIV patients' discussing advanced care planning with their physicians.
In the era of effective antiretroviral therapy, persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are living longer, transforming HIV into a serious chronic illness, warranting patient-provider discussion about advanced care planning (ACP). Evidence is needed to inform physicians on how to approach ACP for these patients. Chronic pain is common in PLWHA, particularly in those who have substance use disorders; although it is known that this population is at risk for poorer patient-physician engagement, the effects on ACP are unknown. ⋯ These results suggest that interventions to increase ACP among HIV patients and their physicians should promote patient-centered patient-provider relationships and PLWHAs' family communication and family problem-solving skills. The findings also suggest that PLWHA with chronic pain and prior family discord over end-of-life medical decisions may be primed for ACP.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2017
Randomized Controlled TrialDignity Therapy and Life Review for Palliative Care Patients: A Qualitative Study.
Dignity therapy (DT) is a psychotherapeutic intervention whose aim was to bolster the sense of purpose, meaning, and sense of dignity in patients with terminal disease. ⋯ This study provides further insight into what palliative care patients consider to be most important and meaningful to them when taking part in DT and LR. Creating legacy documents is likely to result in session content that is different in several key areas compared with LR, even when controlling for interview questions, therapist influences, and session length. Consideration of the above is essential in optimizing psychotherapeutic outcomes near end of life.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2017
The Spanish adaptation of the Palliative Performance Scale (version 2) among cancer patients at the end of life: Psychometric Properties.
Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) is a reliable tool to assess performance status in cancer patients receiving palliative care (PC). Spanish validated and culturally adapted tools are needed. ⋯ PPS-SPANISH showed reliability and validity, and it is suitable to assess performance status in cancer patients receiving PC.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2017
Development of Entrustable Professional Activities for Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Training in the United States.
Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) represent the key physician tasks of a specialty. Once a trainee demonstrates competence in an activity, they can then be "entrusted" to practice without supervision. A physician workgroup of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine sought to define Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) EPAs. ⋯ A set of 17 EPAs was developed using national input of practicing physicians and program directors and an iterative expert workgroup consensus process. The workgroup anticipates that EPAs can assist fellowship directors with strengthening competency-based training curricula.