Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialWhich physicians' behaviors on death pronouncement affect family-perceived physician compassion? A randomized, scripted, video-vignette study.
Although the death of a loved one is a devastating family event, little is known about which behaviors positively affect families' perceptions on death pronouncements. ⋯ To convey compassion on death pronouncement, we recommend that physicians initiate prompt examination, explain that the physician has received a sign-out, perform examination respectfully, ascertain the time of death with a wristwatch, and reassure the families that the patient did not experience pain.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2018
Psychometric Analysis of the Parenting Concerns Questionnaire in Women with Metastatic Cancer.
Parenting concerns are a major source of distress for patients with advanced cancer. However, validated tools to measure this construct in advanced cancer patients are lacking. ⋯ The PCQ assesses a unique aspect of psychological distress in cancer patients. It demonstrated adequate reliability and convergent validity, but its original three-factor structure was not supported in a population of patients with metastatic cancer. The PCQ would benefit from further testing and refinement to enhance its representation of parenting concerns in metastatic cancer.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2018
A Longitudinal Study of PROMIS Pediatric Symptom Clusters in Children Undergoing Chemotherapy.
Children in treatment for cancer experience multiple, troubling, and interrelated symptoms. Analyzing the interrelatedness of symptoms and how that changes during treatment could yield clinically relevant patient profiles to guide patient care. ⋯ Children experiencing troubling symptoms during cancer treatment are heterogeneous. With respect to the PROMIS symptom measures, two a priori unknown distinct latent profiles of patients were identified in a course of chemotherapy, and the transitions in the profile status were significantly predicted by a baseline single-item fatigue measure.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2018
Symptom intensity of hospice patients: A longitudinal analysis of concordance between patients' and nurses' outcomes.
Nearing death, hospice patients are increasingly unable or unwilling to self-report their symptom intensity and rely on nurses' assessments. ⋯ Concordance between patients' and nurses' assessment of symptom prevalence is good, and both patients and nurses reveal identical symptoms as most and least prevalent and intense. However, nurses tend to underestimate symptom intensity. Concordance between patients and nurses symptom intensity scores is poor and does not improve over time.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2018
Observational StudyEffects of Androgen Deprivation Therapy on Pain Perception, Quality-of-Life and Depression in Men with Prostate Cancer.
Previous animal and human research suggests that testosterone has antinociceptive properties. Castration in male rodents increases pain perception which is reversed by testosterone replacement. Pain perception also improves in hypogonadal men with testosterone therapy. However, it remains unclear whether androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in men with prostate cancer (PCa) is associated with an increase in pain perception. ⋯ ADT in men with PCa is associated with worsening of depression scores and QOL but is not associated with changes in clinical pain or pain sensitivity.