3. Generate hypotheses to explain current octreotide prescribing patterns.Background. Medical management is the cornerstone of malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) therapy and includes antisecretory agents such as octreotide. Currently, no data exist regarding octreotide prescribing patterns in US academic hospitals in the palliation of inoperable MBO. Research Objectives. To assess octreotide prescribing patterns to palliative inoperable MBO including: inpatient service, initiation day, daily dose, length of stay (LOS), and overall survival (OS). Method. This retrospective chart review evaluated inpatient MBO admissions at a single academic US hospital between 2008-2011. Patients with operable lesions or non-MBO diagnoses were excluded. The prescribing primary service (medical vs. surgical), inpatient day initiated, daily dose, cumulative dose, LOS, and OS were analyzed. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess if the association between dose and LOS was significant. Kaplan-Meier curves and log rank test were used to evaluate OS. Result. 767 total patients who received octreotide were identified, 134 cancer patients, and 37 (24 female, 13 male; mean age 56.7 years) had a confirmed inoperable MBO. The mean LOS was equivalent on both services (17 days). The mean octreotide dose was 201.2 mcg medical vs. 119 mcg surgical. Mean initiation was 8.4 days (7.9 medical vs. 8.8 surgical). Earlier initiation was associated with a shorter hospital stay (Spearman's correlation ¼ 0.76, p < 0.0001). No serious adverse effects were attributed to octreotide. No statistically significant association between average daily dose, cumulative dose, and OS was demonstrated.Conclusion. Early initiation of octreotide is statistically significantly associated with shorter LOS; the significance remains after adjustment for age. Timing and dosage of octreotide use was not significantly associated with survival.

substance abuse was only associated with impairment in self-care ). Interactions between pain, mood, and substance abuse were not significant. Conclusion.Pain was associated with up to 11 times the odds of impaired physical function in HIV-infected patients.Implications for Research, Policy, or Practice. Further studies are needed to investigate the impact of pain assessment and management on physical function in HIV-infected individuals.

preconceptions surrounding PC; and (4) barriers to PC. ICU nurses related concepts (ie, dignity and quality of life) they considered inherent to PC but were concerned about how to address these concepts (ie, when should PC be consulted). Nurses noted preconceptions (ie, PC is ''giving up'') and barriers to PC (ie, ICU culture) that complicate PC delivery within the ICU. Conclusion. ICU nurses advocate for PC princi-ples, but recognize that many preconceptions and barriers complicate delivery of PC in the ICU.