European journal of cancer care
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Evaluation of a patient-held record for patients with cancer.
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Comparative Study
Validation of the French 'multidimensional fatigue inventory' (MFI 20).
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Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) · May 2020
Observational StudyThe association between palliative care team consultation and hospital costs for patients with advanced cancer: An observational study in 12 Dutch hospitals.
Early palliative care team consultation has been shown to reduce costs of hospital care. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between palliative care team (PCT) consultation and the content and costs of hospital care in patients with advanced cancer. ⋯ PCT consultation for patients with cancer in Dutch hospitals often occurs late in the patients' disease trajectories, which might explain why we found no effect of PCT consultation on costs of hospital care. Earlier consultation could be beneficial to patients and reduce costs of care.
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Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) · Jul 2016
Palliative care needs at different phases in the illness trajectory: a survey study in patients with cancer.
Despite the growing consensus on the benefits of initiating palliative care early in the disease trajectory, it remains unclear at what point palliative care needs emerge. This study investigates quality of life and unmet palliative care needs at three phases in the cancer trajectory, curative, life-prolonging and most advanced (prognosis <6 months/no further disease-modifying treatment). We collected self-reported data from 620 patients with cancer in the University Hospital of Ghent, Belgium. ⋯ Higher symptom burdens for fatigue, pain, dyspnoea and appetite loss were found in groups further into the trajectory, p < .001. Patients in the curative phase experienced physical symptoms and had clinically worse functioning than a European reference group. This paper demonstrates the ongoing need for oncologists to address the broader palliative care needs of patients from diagnosis onwards.