Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialPatient Experiences of Specialty Palliative Care in the Perioperative Period for Cancer Surgery.
Though patients undergoing treatment for upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers frequently experience a range of sequelae and disease recurrence, patients often do not receive specialty palliative care soon after diagnosis and it is unknown in what ways they may benefit. ⋯ While receipt of specialty palliative care in the perioperative period was generally perceived positively and patients appreciated palliative care visits, they did not describe many needs typically met by palliative care practitioners.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialA digital therapeutic application (ePAL) to manage pain in patients with advanced cancer: A randomized controlled trial.
Patients with advanced cancer often experience immense cancer pain that negatively impacts their quality of life. Interventions to address cancer-related pain are limited. ⋯ We enrolled 112 patients who were randomly assigned to ePAL (N = 56) or usual care (N = 56). Patients utilized ePAL on average 2.1 times per week to report pain symptoms, and 47.6% reported their pain at least once per week over eight weeks. Patients randomized to ePAL reported lower pain scores at Week-4 (mean: 3.16 vs. 4.28, P = 0.010) and week-8 (mean:2.99 vs. 4.05, P = 0.017), compared to those receiving usual care. Participants randomized to ePAL were less likely to experience a pain-related hospitalization compared to those in the usual care group (7.1% vs. 23.2% P = 0.018) CONCLUSIONS: ePAL was associated with lower patient-reported pain and fewer pain-related hospitalizations compared to usual care in patients with advanced cancer. This study demonstrates the promise of digital therapeutics for improving patients' symptoms while reducing burdensome hospitalizations.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2024
Randomized Controlled TrialFeasibility of Weekly Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale (IPOS) Within a Stepped Care Model.
Patients with advanced cancer may experience symptoms and concerns that are inadequately identified by the healthcare team, leading to calls for patient-reported symptom monitoring. ⋯ In our study, there was suboptimal completion of patient-reported IPOS questionnaire. Further research is needed to improve the uptake of patient-reported outcomes in real-world clinical settings.