Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2017
Terminally Ill Taiwanese Cancer Patients' and Family Caregivers' Agreement on Patterns of Life-Sustaining Treatment Preferences Is Poor to Fair and Declines Over a Decade: Results from Two Independent Cross-Sectional Studies.
Temporal changes have not been examined in patient-caregiver agreement on life-sustaining treatment (LST) preferences at end of life (EOL). We explored the extent of and changes in patient-caregiver agreement on LST-preference patterns for two independent cohorts of Taiwanese cancer patient-family caregiver dyads recruited a decade apart. ⋯ Patients and family caregivers had poor-to-fair agreement on LST-preference patterns, and agreement declined significantly over a decade. Encouraging an open dialogue between patients and their family caregivers about desired EOL care would facilitate patient-caregiver agreement on LST-preference patterns, thus honoring terminally ill cancer patients' wishes when they cannot make EOL-care decisions.
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PC-FACS(FastArticleCriticalSummaries for Clinicians inPalliativeCare) provides hospice and palliative care clinicians with concise summaries of the most important findings from more than 100 medical and scientific journals. If you have colleagues who would benefit from receiving PC-FACS, please encourage them to join the AAHPM at aahpm.org. Comments from readers are welcomed at pc-facs@aahpm.org.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2017
Randomized Controlled TrialUnderstanding Response Rates to Surveys about Family Members' Psychological Symptoms after Patients' Critical Illness.
Achieving adequate response rates from family members of critically ill patients can be challenging, especially when assessing psychological symptoms. ⋯ We identified several predictors of the receipt of surveys assessing psychological symptoms in family of critically ill patients, including family member health status and attachment style. Using these characteristics to inform follow-up mailings and reminders may enhance response rates.
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Accurate estimation of life expectancy in patients with brain metastases is critical for counseling and choosing appropriate therapy. Performance status is the single greatest determinant of overall survival in this population. However, current measures of performance status are subjective and often based on brief clinical encounters. Gait speed is an objective, reliable predictor of overall health and survival. ⋯ Gait speed is associated with overall survival in patients with newly diagnosed brain metastases. Gait speed assessment is simple, objective, and may provide additional prognostic information to improve life expectancy estimation and management decisions.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2017
Self-Reported Bothersome Symptoms Across Different Socioepidemiological Groups of People Living with HIV Attending French Hospitals: Results from the ANRS-VESPA2 Survey.
Twenty years after the advent of combined antiretroviral therapies (ARTs), there is a growing need for up-to-date information about the daily experience of people living with HIV (PLWH). ⋯ Combining new biomedical strategies with coping mechanisms and providing better support to socially vulnerable PLWH may improve this population's quality of health and daily life.