Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2017
Factors driving live discharge from hospice: Provider perspectives.
The proportion of patients disenrolling from hospice before death has increased over the decade with significant variations across hospice types and regions. Such trends have raised concerns about live disenrollment's effect on care quality. Live disenrollment may be driven by factors other than patient preference and may create discontinuities in care, disrupting ongoing patient-provider relationships. Researchers have not explored when and how providers make this decision with patients. ⋯ This study provides significant contributions to existing knowledge about hospice enrollment and disenrollment patterns. Results suggest that live discharge patterns are often susceptible to market and regulatory forces, which may have contributed to the rising national rate.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2017
Psychometric assessment of the Chinese version of the Abbreviated Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) and the Clinical practice version (EPIC-CP) in Chinese men with prostate cancer.
The Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) instrument was designed to assess a range of health-related quality-of-life issues specifically relevant to patients with prostate cancer. This study examined the validity and reliability of Chinese versions of the 26-item EPIC and of the 16-item EPIC for Clinical Practice (EPIC-CP) in Chinese patients with prostate cancer. ⋯ These Chinese versions of the five-factor EPIC-26 and the EPIC-CP are valid and practical measures for assessing a range of health-related quality-of-life issues related to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, highlighting their utility in assessing health-related quality of life for patients diagnosed with prostate cancer.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2017
Clinical and socio-demographic predictors of home hospice patients dying at home: A retrospective analysis of Hospice Care Association's database in Singapore.
Hospice care can be delivered in different settings, but many patients choose to receive it at home because of familiar surroundings. Despite their preferences, not every home hospice patient manages to die at home. ⋯ Female, older age, living with a caregiver, non-cancer diagnosis, more doctor and nurse visits, shorter duration of home hospice stays, and fewer episodes of acute hospitalizations are predictive of dying-at-home for home hospice patients.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2017
Feasibility of a Telehealth Educational Program on Self-management of Pain and Fatigue in Adult Cancer Patients.
Pain and fatigue are common symptoms among cancer patients and often lead to substantial distress. Innovative self-management programs for pain and fatigue are needed. ⋯ Telehealth self-management program for pain and fatigue may be better accepted among selected segments of cancer patients. Larger scale studies are needed to assess the efficacy of this program in a more selective activated population.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2017
Anxiety after diagnosis predicts lung-cancer specific and overall survival in patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer. A population-based cohort study.
The question as to whether anxiety and depression are related to mortality in patients with lung cancer is inconclusive. ⋯ In a large population-based sample of patients with non-small cell lung cancer analyses demonstrated associations of anxiety with mortality, adding to the evidence that psychosocial factors might play a role in disease progression in this patient group. Because emotional distress is associated with continued smoking and lack of success of smoking cessation attempts, psychological interventions potentially could influence length of survival in lung cancer patients.