Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2018
ReviewA Systematic Review in Support of the National Consensus Project Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care, Fourth Edition.
Palliative care continues to be a rapidly growing field aimed at improving quality of life for patients and their caregivers. ⋯ A substantial body of evidence exists to support clinical practice guidelines for quality palliative care, but the quality of evidence is limited.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2018
Pain and Emergency Department Use in the Last Month of Life Among Older Adults with Dementia.
Pain may be a potentially modifiable risk factor for expensive and burdensome emergency department (ED) visits near the end of life for older adults with dementia. ⋯ Among older adults with dementia, unmet need for pain management was associated with more frequent ED visits in the last month of life.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2018
Comparative StudyPhenotypic Characterization of Paclitaxel-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Cancer Survivors.
Although paclitaxel is one of the most commonly used drugs to treat breast, ovarian, and lung cancers, little is known about the impact of paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (PIPN) on cancer survivors. ⋯ The findings from this large descriptive study are the first to document the impact of PIPN on survivors' symptom burden, functional status, and QOL.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2018
Multicenter Study Observational StudySpiritual Well-being Among Palliative Care Patients With Different Religious Affiliations: A Multicenter Korean Study.
Spiritual well-being (SWB) is very important in palliative care patients. ⋯ Although faith practices may be particularly helpful to improve spiritual well-being among Christians, further research is needed to determine what individual spiritual activities can support non-Christians.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2018
ReviewManaging Medicines for Patients Dying at Home: A Review of Family Caregivers' Experiences.
Increased life expectancy, technical advances in treatment and symptom control, and the extension of palliative care in community settings not only lengthen life but also make it possible for many patients to be cared for, and to die, at home. Moreover, death increasingly occurs in late old age and after a prolonged period of comorbidity and/or frailty. This has far-reaching consequences for the way that professional services are resourced and organized and for the informal carers who are often responsible for providing the greater part of patient care, including management of complex medication regimes. ⋯ As increasing demands are placed on FCGs, there remains limited acknowledgment or understanding of the challenges they face, how they cope, or could be best supported. Alongside training, FCGs need access to 24 hours of support and medication reviews to rationalize unnecessary medications. Furthermore, the ethical challenges arising from administering medicines at the end of life also need to be acknowledged and discussed.