Immersive virtual reality and psychological well-being in adult chronic physical illness: systematic review.

Introduction: Individuals with chronic physical illness are at increased risk of negative psychological sequelae. Immersive virtual reality (VR) is an emerging treatment that might reduce these negative effects and increase quality of life in individuals with chronic physical illness.

Objective: To systematically review literature examining the use of immersive VR in adult populations with chronic physical illness to understand: (1) how immersive VR is used to improve psychological well-being of adults with chronic physical illness (2) what effect this immersive VR has on the psychological well-being of adults with chronic physical illness.

Evaluating a partnership model of hospice enabled dementia care: A three-phased monitoring, focus group and interview study.

Background: People with dementia and their caregivers often lack equitable access to hospice care which is a concern internationally. Domains of best practice in palliative care for this population exist and hospices are urged to become dementia friendly.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the model of 'Hospice Enabled Dementia Partnership' mapped to international domains of best practice.

A population-based measure of chronic disease severity for health planning and evaluation in the United States.

In the healthcare sector, patients can be categorized into clinical risk groups, which are based, in part, on multiple chronic conditions. Population-based measures of clinical risk groups for population health planning, however, are not available. Using responses of working-age adults (19-64 years old) from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for survey years 2015-2017, a population-based measure of chronic disease severity (CDS) was developed as a proxy for clinical risk groups.

GP perceptions of the adequacy of community-based care for patients with advanced heart failure in a UK region (NI): a qualitative study.

Objective: To assess the adequacy of community-based services available in Northern Ireland (NI) and to meet the multidimensional needs of patients living with New York Heart Association Stage III and IV heart failure (HF), as experienced and perceived by general practitioners (GP).

Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with GPs recruited via the University Department of General Practice and Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Agency. Interviews were transcribed, independently coded and analysed using a six-step thematic analysis approach.

Assisted reproductive technology use, embryo transfer practices, and birth outcomes after infertility insurance mandates: New Jersey and Connecticut.

Objective: To explore whether recently enacted infertility mandates including coverage for assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment in New Jersey (2001) and Connecticut (2005) increased ART use, improved embryo transfer practices, and decreased multiple birth rates.

Design: Retrospective cohort study using data from the National ART Surveillance System. We explored trends in ART use, embryo transfer practices and birth outcomes, and compared changes in practices and outcomes during a 2-year period before and after passing the mandate between mandate and non-mandate states.

Prospective study of falls and risk factors for falls in adults with advanced cancer.

Purpose: Retrospective studies of inpatients with cancer suggest that a cancer diagnosis confers a high risk of falls. In adults with advanced cancer, we aimed to prospectively document the incidence of falls, identify the risk factors, and determine if falls in this population occur predominantly in older patients.

Patients And Methods: Patients admitted consecutively to community and inpatient palliative care services with metastatic or locoregionally advanced cancer who were mobile without assistance were recruited.

Autonomic dysfunction in patients with advanced cancer; prevalence, clinical correlates and challenges in assessment.

Background: The results of a small number of studies of autonomic function in patients with advanced cancer suggest that autonomic dysfunction (AD) is common. In other disease-specific groups this is associated with decreased survival, falls and symptoms such as postural hypotension, nausea, early satiety and fatigue. The contribution of AD to symptoms in advanced cancer is unknown.

Hand-held dynamometry: tester strength is paramount, even in frail populations.

Objective: To determine test-retest and inter-rater reliability of hand-held dynamometry when used to measure knee--extensor strength in patients with advanced cancer.

Subjects: Adults with metastatic or locally advanced cancer recruited from palliative care services to a study of the risk factors for falls.

Methods: Consecutive recruits (n = 30) underwent repeat testing after an interval of 1 h, by the same researcher, to assess test-retest reliability.

A prospective study of the incidence of falls in patients with advanced cancer.

Context: The association between aging and falls risk, and the morbidity and mortality resulting from falls in older persons, is well documented. Results from a small number of studies of patients with cancer in inpatient settings suggest that patients with advanced cancer may be at high risk of falling. We present preliminary results pertaining to the incidence of falls in patients with advanced cancer from an ongoing study of risk factors for falls.

How to identify patients with cancer at risk of falling: a review of the evidence.

Background: Clinical experience and a limited number of studies suggest that a cancer diagnosis confers a high risk of accidental falls. The negative sequelae of falls in older persons are well documented; risk factors for falls in this population have been extensively investigated and evidence for the efficacy of interventions to reduce falls is steadily emerging. It is not known whether the risk factors for falls and effective interventions for falls risk reduction in patients with cancer are different from those in older persons.

Systematic review of the effectiveness of botulinum toxin or radiotherapy for sialorrhea in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Fifty percent of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) experience problems handling serous saliva and 20% fail to achieve adequate control of sialorrhea with anticholinergic medications, or experience intolerable adverse effects from these drugs. Both botulinum and radiotherapy have been suggested in the literature as treatments for intractable sialorrhea. In this review, we assess the evidence for the effectiveness and toxicity of botulinum toxin and radiotherapy for sialorrhea in patients with ALS.

Prospective validation of the palliative prognostic index in patients with cancer.

The Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) was devised and validated in patients with cancer in a hospice inpatient unit in Japan. The aim of this study was to test its accuracy in a different population, in a range of care settings and in those receiving palliative chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The information required to calculate the PPI was recorded for patients referred to a hospital-based consultancy palliative care service, a hospice home care service, and a hospice inpatient unit.

Sensitivity and specificity of a two-question screening tool for depression in a specialist palliative care unit.

Objectives: The primary objective in this study is to determine the sensitivity and specificity of a two-item screening interview for depression versus the formal psychiatric interview, in the setting of a specialist palliative in-patient unit so that we may identify those individuals suffering from depressive disorder and therefore optimise their management in this often-complex population.

Methods: A prospective sample of consecutive admissions (n = 167) consented to partake in the study, and the screening interview was asked separately to the formal psychiatric interview.

Results: The two-item questionnaire, achieved a sensitivity of 90.

National population-based biobanks for genetic research.

Clinical practice guidelines derived from genetic research using population-based biobanks could dramatically change the nature of personal and public health medicine. Centralized population-based biobanks have been established or proposed in at least nine countries to date, and many lessons have been learned from these landmark developments. Scientific and governmental leaders in the United States are currently contemplating pending federal legislation regarding the establishment of centralized and networked biobanks.

Rapid quantification and taxonomic classification of environmental DNA from both prokaryotic and eukaryotic origins using a microarray.

A microarray has been designed using 62,358 probes matched to both prokaryotic and eukaryotic small-subunit ribosomal RNA genes. The array categorized environmental DNA to specific phylogenetic clusters in under 9 h. To a background of DNA generated from natural outdoor aerosols, known quantities of rRNA gene copies from distinct organisms were added producing corresponding hybridization intensity scores that correlated well with their concentrations (r=0.