Living With Neuroendocrine Tumors: Assessment of Quality of Life Through a Mobile Application.

Purpose: To understand the quality of life (QoL) for patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) through comparison of QoL questionnaires and symptom tracking as well as journaling via the Carcinoid NETs Health Storylines mobile application (app).

Patients And Methods: This was a 12-week prospective, observational study of US patients with NET who were taking long-acting somatostatin analogs. National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) questionnaires were administered three times.

Functional assessment of accommodating intraocular lenses versus monofocal intraocular lenses in cataract surgery: metaanalysis.

Purpose: To compare accommodating intraocular lens (IOLs) and monofocal IOLs in restoring accommodation in cataract surgery.

Setting: Dartmouth Medical School and Department of Ophthalmology, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA.

Methods: In this metaanalysis, 2 researchers independently extracted data, assessed trial quality, and contacted authors for missing information.

Long-term outcomes of Gamma Knife radiosurgery for classic trigeminal neuralgia: implications of treatment and critical review of the literature. Clinical article.

Object: Few long-term studies of Gamma Knife surgery (GKS) for trigeminal neuralgia (TN) exist. The authors report their long-term experience with the use of GKS in a previously reported cohort of patients with TN that has now been followed since 1996.

Methods: One hundred twelve patients with TN were treated with GKS at the University of Maryland between June 1996 and July 2001.

Preferences of older and younger adults with serious mental illness for involvement in decision-making in medical and psychiatric settings.

Objectives: There is a growing call for greater consumer participation in health care encounters. Prior research suggests that older age is associated with a greater preference for a more passive role in clinical decision-making, yet little is known about preferences for persons with mental illness. This pilot study compared preferences for involvement in decision-making between older and younger adults with serious mental illness.

Shared decision-making preferences of people with severe mental illness.

Objective: Perceived roles and preferences were explored for shared decision making among persons with severe mental illnesses.

Methods: In this pilot study, 30 adult clients with severe mental illness in a community mental health center were surveyed about decision making regarding psychiatric medications, rehabilitation, and general medical care.

Results: Clients generally expressed a desire for greater participation in decisions about psychiatric care than they currently experienced.

Shared decision-making and evidence-based practice.

Shared decision-making refers to a process of health care delivery in which practitioners and clients seeking help for problems or disorders collaborate to access relevant information and to enable client-centered selection of health care resources. Though nearly all clients express a desire for more information, preferences for participation in health care decisions vary by individual and by illness. Two common strategies to promote shared decision-making are communication training for clients and clinicians, and decision aids to provide targeted information and values clarification.

Use of erythropoietin in cancer patients: assessment of oncologists' practice patterns in the United States and other countries.

Purpose: To assess physician use of erythropoietin in cancer patients before publication of the American Society of Clinical Oncology/American Society of Hematology guidelines.

Methods: Questionnaires about erythropoietin use in practice and 12 hypothetical clinical scenarios involving patients with cancer were mailed to 2000 oncologists/hematologists in the United States and 19 other countries. Response rates were 30% in the United States and 25% internationally.

Erythropoietin, uncertainty principle and cancer related anaemia.

Background: This study was designed to evaluate if erythropoietin (EPO) is effective in the treatment of cancer related anemia, and if its effect remains unchanged when data are analyzed according to various clinical and methodological characteristics of the studies. We also wanted to demonstrate that cumulative meta-analysis (CMA) can be used to resolve uncertainty regarding clinical questions.

Methods: Systematic Review (SR) of the published literature on the role of EPO in cancer-related anemia.

G-CSF as prophylaxis of febrile neutropenia in SCLC.

Objectives: In 1991, small cell lung cancer (SCLC) was reported as the first tumour type where colony stimulating factor (CSF) support was clinically effective. We reviewed 13 health services research studies that addressed CSF use as supportive care for SCLC.

Methods: Findings from American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) membership surveys, patterns of care studies, ASCO evidence-based guidelines and cost-effectiveness studies for CSF use were reviewed.