Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2014
Comparative StudyReferral practices of pediatric oncologists to specialized palliative care.
The aims of this study are to describe the attitudes and referral practices of pediatric oncologists (POs) to specialized palliative care (SPC), and to compare them with those of adult oncologists (AOs). ⋯ Although POs acknowledge the importance of early referral to SPC for children with cancer, there remain resource and attitudinal barriers to overcome in this regard.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2014
The impact of radiotherapy on quality of life for cancer patients: a longitudinal study.
The aim of this study was to assess for changes in quality of life (QOL) among cancer patients who undergo radiotherapy (RT) and to identify factors that influence QOL in this group. ⋯ While RT negatively affects cancer patients' QOL, restoration tends to be rapid and patients report significant improvement by 1 month post-RT. Various patient- and disease-specific factors and RT modality affect QOL in this patient group. We advocate measuring cancer patients' QOL regularly as part of routine patient management.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2014
Sleep, fatigue, depression, and circadian activity rhythms in women with breast cancer before and after treatment: a 1-year longitudinal study.
Sleep disturbance, fatigue and depression are common complaints in patients with cancer, and often contribute to worse quality of life (QoL). Circadian activity rhythms (CARs) are often disrupted in cancer patients. These symptoms worsen during treatment, but less is known about their long-term trajectory. ⋯ Additional research is needed to determine if beginning treatment of these symptoms before the start of chemotherapy will minimize symptom severity over time.
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Support Care Cancer · Sep 2014
Observational StudyDoes a regional comprehensive palliative care program improve pain in outpatient cancer patients?
Pain is still a major problem for cancer patients, and the effect of a population-based approach on patients' experience of pain is not fully understood. ⋯ The regional palliative care program failed to demonstrate improvement of the pain intensity of cancer outpatients. One possible interpretation is that they are less likely to be regarded as target populations and that the study population experienced generally well-controlled pain. Future study including patients with more severe pain is needed, but to improve pain levels of cancer outpatients, intensive, patient-directed intervention seems to be more promising than region-based intervention.