Bmc Health Serv Res
-
Bmc Health Serv Res · Dec 2015
Randomized Controlled TrialThe systematic early integration of palliative care into multidisciplinary oncology care in the hospital setting (IPAC), a randomized controlled trial: the study protocol.
Previous studies in the US and Canada, have shown the positive impact of early palliative care programs for advanced cancer patients on quality of life (QoL) and even survival time. There has been a lack of similar research in Europe. In order to generalize the findings from the US and Canada research on a larger scale, similar studies are needed in different countries with different care settings. The aim of this paper is to describe the research protocol of a randomized controlled trial, situated in Flanders, Belgium, evaluating the effect of systematic early integration of palliative care in standard oncology care. ⋯ This trial will be the first randomized controlled trial in the Belgian health care setting to evaluate the effect of systematic early integration of palliative care for advanced cancer patients. The results will enable us to evaluate whether systematic early integration of palliative care has positive effects on QoL, mood and patient illness-understanding and which components of the intervention contribute to these effects.
-
Bmc Health Serv Res · Dec 2015
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyIs exposure in vivo cost-effective for chronic low back pain? A trial-based economic evaluation.
Back pain is one of the most expensive health complaints. Comparing the economic aspects of back pain interventions may therefore contribute to a more efficient use of available resources. This study reports on a long-term cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) and cost-utility analysis (CUA) of two treatments as viewed from a societal perspective: 1) exposure in vivo treatment (EXP), a recently developed cognitive behavioral treatment for patients with chronic low back pain who have elevated pain-related fear and 2) the more commonly used graded activity (GA) treatment. ⋯ Based on these results, implementing EXP for this group of patients seems to be the best decision.