Background: Advance care planning (ACP) has been suggested to improve the quality of life (QoL) and mental wellbeing in severely ill patients and their relatives.
Aim: To investigate the effects of ACP among patients with lung, heart and cancer diseases with an estimated life-span of up to 12 months.
Methods: Patients and relatives were randomised into two groups: one receiving usual care and one receiving ACP and usual care. Themes from the ACP discussion were documented in patients' electronic medical file. Participants completed self-reported questionnaires four to five weeks after randomisation.
Findings: In total, 141 patients and 127 relatives participated. No significant differences were found according to outcomes. However, patients with non-malignant diseases had the highest level of anxiety and depression; these patients seemed to benefit the most from ACP, though not showing statistically significant results.
Conclusion: No significant effects of ACP among patients with lung, heart, and cancer diseases and their relatives regarding HRQoL, anxiety, depression, and satisfaction with healthcare were found.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.12968/ijpn.2019.25.3.112 | DOI Listing |
JCO Oncol Pract
January 2025
Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
Purpose: National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines recommend initiating postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) within 6 weeks of surgery for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), but delays affect 50% of patients, disproportionately burden minoritized groups, and contribute to worse oncologic outcomes. This trial evaluates the efficacy of Navigation for Disparities and Untimely Radiation thErapy (NDURE), an enhanced navigation-based intervention, relative to usual care (UC) patient navigation for starting timely PORT.
Methods: Adults with locally advanced HNSCC planning to undergo surgery and PORT were randomly assigned 1:1 to standard multidisciplinary head and neck oncology care and either NDURE, a multilevel navigation-based intervention to enhance key processes of care and overcome barriers to timely PORT, or UC, which consisted of standard patient navigation.
JAAPA
January 2025
In the PA program at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla., Elizabeth Brownlee is director of didactic education and Melissa Turley is interim program director and a clinical assistant professor. Heather Nations practices in obstetrics and gynecology at UF Health Physicians in Gainesville. The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has led to significant advances in the treatment of blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, and now shows promise for solid tumors. This type of immunotherapy can achieve high response rates in patients with hematologic malignancies, but carries serious adverse reactions, including cytokine release syndrome and immune-effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome. This article describes CAR T-cell therapy, guidance for primary care providers caring for patients undergoing therapy, and the ongoing need for research to enhance CAR T-cell therapy's safety and effectiveness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Forum Allergy Rhinol
January 2025
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
Background: The present study explores the effect of sociodemographics and comorbidities on the calculated minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for 22-item Sinonasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) scores in patients with medically treated chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). The importance of delineating a threshold to indicate clinically meaningful changes perceived by a patient is well acknowledged, yet the influence of patient-specific factors on MCID has not been fully elucidated.
Methods: Patients with CRS (n = 221) presenting to a tertiary care practice reported their change in disease burden with anchor questions following CRS-directed medical treatment.
Comput Inform Nurs
January 2025
Author Affiliations: Zonguldak Atatürk State Hospital (Dr Alkan); and Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, Zonguldak Bülent Ecevit University (Dr Taşdemir), Zonguldak, Turkey.
The global population is aging, and there is a concomitant increase in surgery for the elderly. In geriatric patients, where postoperative pain assessment is difficult, technological tools that perform automatic pain assessment are needed to alleviate the workload of nurses and to accurately assess patients' pain. This study offers a more reliable and rapid assessment tool for assessing the pain of elderly patients undergoing surgery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Synth Biol
January 2025
Biosensors and Nanobiotechnology Laboratory, Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong, BE 1410, Brunei Darussalam.
The field of healthcare diagnostics is navigating complex challenges driven by evolving patient demographics and the rapid advancement of new technologies worldwide. In response to these challenges, these biosensors offer distinctive advantages over traditional diagnostic methods, such as cost-effectiveness, enhanced specificity, and adaptability, making their integration with point-of-care (POC) platforms more feasible. In recent years, aptasensors have significantly evolved in diagnostic capabilities through the integration of emerging technologies such as microfluidics, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) systems, wearable devices, and machine learning (ML), driving progress in precision medicine and global healthcare solutions.
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