Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2018
The impact of therapeutic opioid agonists on driving-related psychomotor skills assessed by a driving simulator or an on-road driving task: A systematic review.
Driving cessation is associated with poor health-related outcomes. People with chronic diseases are often prescribed long-term opioid agonists that have the potential to impair driving. Studies evaluating the impact of opioids on driving-related psychomotor skills report contradictory results likely due to heterogeneous designs, assessment tools and study populations. A better understanding of the effects of regular therapeutic opioid agonists on driving can help to inform the balance between individual's independence and community safety. ⋯ This systematic review does not identify impaired simulated driving performance when people take regular therapeutic opioid agonists for symptom control, although more prospective studies are needed.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2018
Measuring attitudes towards the dying process: A systematic review of tools.
At the end of life, anxious attitudes concerning the dying process are common in patients in Palliative Care. Measurement tools can identify vulnerabilities, resources and the need for subsequent treatment to relieve suffering and support well-being. ⋯ Many tools exist to measure attitudes towards the dying process using different endpoints. This overview can serve as decision framework on which tool to apply in which contexts. For clinical application, only few tools were available. Further validation of existing tools and potential alternative methods in various populations is needed.