Symptoms, care needs and diagnosis in palliative cancer patients in acute care hospitals: A 5-year follow-up survey

Sandgren, Anna; Fridlund, Bengt; Nyberg, Per; Strang, Peter; Petersson, Kerstin; Thulesius, Hans

doi:10.3109/02841860903463991

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…It was developed by representatives of different professions and had been pilottested and used in earlier studies [19]. In short, the questionnaire comprises organizational and healthcare aspects (clinic wards, number of beds, etc.…”

Section: Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The WHO's definition of palliative care was also included [21] as an aid for the assessments. The questionnaire was pilot-tested in 2002 for face and content validity by a panel of palliative care experts [19].…”

Section: Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies have mainly focused on the extent of symptoms and palliative care needs of cancer patients in hospices and palliative care units/programs [13][14][15][16], but some have focused on cancer patients in hospital settings [17][18][19][20]. Nonetheless, we still need more knowledge regarding the extent of palliative care needs and the prevalence and characteristics of symptoms in acute care settings in regions with limited availability of specialized palliative care.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Palliative care needs in hospitalized cancer patients: a 5-year follow-up study

Sandgren

Strang

2017

Support Care Cancer

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Purpose The aims of this study were to describe and compare diagnoses, symptoms, and care needs in palliative cancer patients in two medium-sized hospitals in a county council with no specialized palliative care available 24/7; to analyze the relationships between diagnosis and symptoms/care needs; and to compare results and trends from two datasets (from 2007 and 2012). Methods The study was population-based with a crosssectional design and was conducted at two acute care hospitals. We performed 142 one-day inventories (n = 2972) in 2007 and 139 in 2012 (n = 2843) to register symptoms, care needs, and diagnosis based on a questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression models were used in the analysis. Results During 2007 and 2012 combined, 10% (n = 589) of hospitalized patients were assessed as having cancer in a palliative phase. Prostate (12%) and colorectal (12%) cancers were most common. Pain (42%) and deterioration (42%) were the most prevalent symptoms and were associated with pancreas cancer in our regression models (p = 0.003 and p = 0.019, respectively). Other cancers had different associations: hematologic malignancies were associated with infections and blood transfusions (p < 0.001), breast cancer with pleurocentesis (p = 0.002), and stomach/esophagus cancer with nausea (p < 0.001). Nausea was more common in women than in men (p < 0.01). The mean number of symptoms/care needs was 2.9; patients with stomach/esophagus cancer had the highest number of symptoms/care needs (3.5). Conclusions Acute care hospitals still play an important role for patients requiring palliative care. Symptoms and care needs were not strongly associated with specific diagnoses. Therefore, symptoms, rather than the specific cancer diagnoses, should be the focus of care.

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Section: Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Palliative care needs in hospitalized cancer patients: a 5-year follow-up study

Sandgren

Strang

2017

Support Care Cancer

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“…From all new patients, who were diagnosed with oncological disease within one year, about 11-14% of the patients require palliative treatment (1). The most frequent experienced physical symptoms are the following: pain (44%), increasing weakness (44%), nausea (19%), and symptoms associated with frequent infections (25%) (1). From 15% to 50% of oncological patients experience symptoms of depression; from 5% to 20% of patients meet the criteria for major depression and often experience suicidal thoughts (2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for palliative cancer patients in Lithuania. A case report

Sutkevičiūtė

Stančiukaitė

Bulotienė

2017

AML

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Patients with oncological diseases, especially palliative care patients, suffer from physical and psychological difficulties. The quality of life of such patients is bad, they do not have purpose to live and they feel anxiety and distress. In 1959 Victor Frankl wrote the book Man's Search for Meaning in which he stated that the driving force of human life lay in the ability to discern the meaning of faith and spirituality. Inspired by Frankl's ideas, the American psychiatrist William Breitbart with colleagues have developed both an individual and group model of Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy. Studies show that this therapy helps patients to cope with distress, to discover the meaning of life in palliative care patients, and to find the strength to look at life positively; also, it relieves the symptoms of illness. The Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy is integrated in various countries and has recently been initiated for palliative patients in Lithuania. The individual Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy was used in the case reviewed in this paper.

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“…In these patients, the primary goal of intervention is relief of symptoms [1][2][3][4][5]. Symptoms experienced by patients with advanced gastric cancer include those related to malnutrition (anorexia, cachexia, weight loss), bleeding (hematemesis, melena, anemia), and pain and obstruction (vomiting, dyspepsia, dysphagia) [2,6,7]. Palliation is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as neither hastening death nor prolonging survival while providing relief from pain and other distressing symptoms [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effective palliation and quality of life outcomes in studies of surgery for advanced, non-curative gastric cancer: a systematic review

et al. 2011

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Background Relief of symptoms should be the primary focus of palliative treatment as defined by the World Health Organization. Evaluating the effectiveness of palliative interventions should incorporate this goal and include quality of life (QOL) outcome assessments. A systematic review of the surgical gastric cancer literature was performed to summarize the effectiveness of palliative surgical interventions in addressing QOL. Methods An electronic literature search of EMBASE, Medline, and the Cochrane Database of Controlled Trials was performed from January 1, 1985 to December 1, 2009. English language abstracts and articles were reviewed independently by two reviewers. A systematic approach to data abstraction and presentation was followed.Results No articles were identified as reporting true QOL outcomes using reliable, validated QOL instruments in surgically managed, advanced gastric cancer patients. Nine articles were identified as reporting outcomes measuring effectiveness of palliation. Commonly reported pre-procedure symptoms were weight loss, abdominal pain, vomiting, obstruction, and bleeding. Time to oral intake was reported in 5 of 9 studies, ranging from a mean of 2.9 days (laparoscopic gastrojejunostomy) to 8 days (surgical bypass). Length of postoperative inpatient stay ranged from a mean of 7 days (gastrojejunostomy) to 28 days (surgical bypass). Other measures of effective palliation included measures of clinical success, hospital readmission rates, and post-procedure analgesic intake. Conclusion A paucity of literature exists regarding the QOL of surgically managed gastric cancer patients. Prospectively designed studies using credible QOL measures are necessary to better inform the treatment decisionmaking process for these patients.

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Symptoms, care needs and diagnosis in palliative cancer patients in acute care hospitals: A 5-year follow-up survey

Cited by 17 publications

References 17 publications

Palliative care needs in hospitalized cancer patients: a 5-year follow-up study

Palliative care needs in hospitalized cancer patients: a 5-year follow-up study

Individual Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for palliative cancer patients in Lithuania. A case report

Effective palliation and quality of life outcomes in studies of surgery for advanced, non-curative gastric cancer: a systematic review

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