Treating Chronic Pain with Buprenorphine-The Practical Guide.

Buprenorphine has unique and favorable pharmacological properties that make it useful in a variety of clinical scenarios. It has been recommended to consider buprenorphine first-line opioid for chronic pain, especially in the elderly as it may be associated with less cognitive impairment, falls, sexual dysfunction, and sarcopenia when compared with schedule II opioids. It may be useful in patients with comorbid substance use disorder or non-medical opioid use, as there is less risk of misuse, euphoria and it may improve mood.

Association of Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Form Use With End-of-Life Care Quality Metrics in Patients With Cancer.

Purpose: Many patients with advanced cancer receive aggressive treatment near the end of life. The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form is an innovation that converts patient preferences into medical orders. We compared the end-of-life care of patients with advanced cancer who had completed POLST forms with that of patients who had advance directives (ADs).

POST Forms More Than Advance Directives Associated With Out-of-Hospital Death: Insights From a State Registry.

Context: Patients' end-of-life care outcomes often do not reflect their preferences. Ninety-two percent of West Virginians prefer to die outside the hospital, yet only 58.8% do.

Sleep quality and sleep problems in Mexican Americans aged 75 and older.

Background And Aims: Sleep complaints and poor sleep quality are common in the elderly population. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with sleep complaints and poor sleep quality among older Mexican Americans over a 3-year period.

Methods: One thousand eighty-five non-institutionalized Mexican American aged 75 years and older.