| 1. |
- Browall, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Health-related quality of life during adjuvant treatment for breast cancer among postmenopausal women
- 2008
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Ingår i: European Journal of Oncology Nursing. - : Elsevier. - 1462-3889 .- 1532-2122. ; 12:3, s. 180-189
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of the present study was twofold: first, to describe changes of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) during the adjuvant treatment among postmenopausal women with breast cancer; second, in the same population to identify the best predictors of Overall Quality of Life (QoL) after treatment, from perceived functioning, symptoms, emotional distress and clinical/demographic variables measured at baseline. The study group was 150 women (>= 55 years of age) scheduled for adjuvant chemotherapy (CT, n=75) or radiotherapy (RT, n=75). They were examined before (baseline), during and after completing the treatment. Data about QoL, perceived functioning, symptoms and emotional distress were collected with the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)-QLQ-C30, BR23 and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaires. The general finding was that the adjuvant treatments were associated with decrease in overall QoL, physical and role functioning, anxiety and body image, as well as with increase in fatigue, dyspnoea, pain, nausea/vomiting, constipation and systemic therapy side effects measured over time. For women receiving CT, better emotional functioning and less pain at baseline predicted better overall QoL at the end of the treatment. For women receiving RT, better physical and emotional functioning, less breast symptoms and lower tumour stage at baseline predicted better overall QoL at the end of the treatment.
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| 2. |
- Browall, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Postmenopausal women with breast cancer : Their experiences of the chemotherapy treatment period
- 2006
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Ingår i: Cancer Nursing. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0162-220X .- 1538-9804. ; 29:1, s. 34-42
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article illustrates the experience of 20 postmenopausal women with breast cancer who had received chemotherapy treatment. The interviews were of narrative nature and analyzed with content analysis. Four themes, including 12 subthemes, described these women's life during treatment as a journey from the negative experiences of fear of the unknown, affects on body and mind, to the more positive to get by, and a transformed life. The treatment was compared with an assault on the body, and the loss of their hair was experienced more negatively than the loss of a breast. The women described a feeling of imbalance in their relationships due to lack of support from those close to them. The support from healthcare professionals was experienced both positively and negatively, and many of the women revealed variation in the professional's attitude, knowledge, and empathy. The women who chose not to work during the treatment felt pressure from society and healthcare professionals to get back to work as soon as possible. For many, especially those in a leading position, this was experienced as very difficult. The women expressed a feeling of not being afraid of dying but wanted more time to prepare themselves.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Ene Wickström, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Pain, psychological distress and health-related quality of life at baseline and 3 months after radical prostatectomy.
- 2006
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Ingår i: BMC Nurs. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1472-6955. ; 5:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Inadequate management of postoperative pain is common, and postoperative pain is a risk factor for prolonged pain. In addition to medical and technical factors, psychological factors may also influence the experience of postoperative pain. METHODS: Pain was measured postoperatively at 24, 48, and 72 hr in hospital and after 3 months at home in 140 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP). Patients answered questionnaires about anxiety and depression (HAD scale) and health-related quality of life (SF-36) at baseline and 3 months after surgery. RESULTS: In the first 3 postoperative days, mild pain was reported by 45 patients (32%), moderate pain by 64 (45%), and severe pain by 31 (22%) on one or more days. High postoperative pain scores were correlated with length of hospital stay and with high pain scores at home. Forty patients (29%) reported moderate (n = 35) or severe (n = 5) pain after discharge from hospital. Patients who experienced anxiety and depression preoperatively had higher postoperative pain scores and remained anxious and depressed 3 months after surgery. The scores for the physical domains in the SF-36 were decreased, while the mental health scores were increased at 3 months. Anxiety and depression were negatively correlated with all domains of the SF-36. CONCLUSION: There is a need for nurses to be aware of the psychological status of RP patients and its impact upon patients' experience of postoperative pain and recovery. The ability to identify patients with psychological distress and to target interventions is an important goal for future research.
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| 5. |
- Ene Wickström, Kerstin, et al.
(författare)
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Postoperative pain management - the influence of surgical ward nurses.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Nursing. - : Wiley. - 1365-2702 .- 0962-1067. ; 17:15, s. 2042-50
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIM: To compare pain levels reported by patients with those documented by ward nurses and to find out to what extent the amount of opioids given correlated with the pain level. Secondly, to study if pain management and nurses' approaches to this task had improved during a two-year period, including an educational pain treatment program for ward staff. BACKGROUND: The management of postoperative pain continues to remain problematic and unsatisfactory and ward nurses play an important role for this task. DESIGN: The study was a cross-sectional, descriptive, two-part study based on survey data from both patients and nurses on two urology surgical wards. METHODS: Part I of the study included 77 patients and 19 nurses. Part II took place approximately two years later and included 141 patients and 22 nurses. Data were collected the day after surgery by asking patients about 'worst pain' experienced. The pain scores given by the patients were compared with those documented in the patients' records and with the doses of opioids administered. Nurses' approaches to pain management were sought after, by using a categorical questionnaire. RESULTS: The nurses' ability to assess pain in accordance with the patients' reports had increased slightly after two years even if and the number of documented pain scores had decreased. Forty per cent of the nurses reported that they did not use visual analogue scale and that they did not assess pain at both rest and activity, neither did one fourth evaluate the effect of given analgesics. CONCLUSION: The study showed a discrepancy in pain scoring between nurses and patients, where active treatment was related to nurses' documentation rather than to patients' scoring. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: The study shows a need for more accurate pain assessment, since the patient experiences and suffers pain and the nurse determines upon treatment.
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| 6. |
- Jakobsson, Eva, 1960, et al.
(författare)
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Clinical problems at the end of life in a Swedish population, including the role of advancing age and physical and cognitive function.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Scandinavian journal of public health. - : SAGE Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 36:2, s. 177-82
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIMS: To improve the understanding of specific clinical problems at the end of life, including the role of advancing age, physical function and cognitive function. METHODS: The study is part of an explorative survey of data relevant to end-of-life healthcare services during the last 3 months of life of a randomly selected sample of the population of a Swedish county. Data were selected through retrospective reviews of death certificates and medical records, and comprise information from 12 municipalities and 229 individuals. RESULTS: A range of prevalent concerns was found. Overall deterioration, urinary incontinence, constipation, impaired skin integrity, anxiety and sleep disturbances were significantly associated with dependency on others for activities of daily living; pulmonary rattles and swallowing disturbances were associated with cognitive disorientation; excepting cough, advancing age did not have significant impacts on these prevalent clinical concerns. CONCLUSIONS: A range of distressing conditions constitute a common pathway for many individuals at or near the end of life. The incorporation of health promotion as a principle of palliative care will probably benefit individuals at the end of life, and includes a proactive focus and emphasis on enhanced well-being at the time of diagnosis of a life-threatening illness. For individuals with physical and cognitive limitations imparting a state of dependency, it is reasonable to provide assurance of care for individuals' specific needs by professionals with both training for and competence in this special and sometimes unique clinical environment.
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| 7. |
- Jakobsson, Eva, 1960, et al.
(författare)
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End-of-life in a Swedish population: demographics, social conditions and characteristics of places of death.
- 2006
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Ingår i: Scandinavian journal of caring sciences. - : Wiley. - 0283-9318 .- 1471-6712. ; 20:1, s. 10-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The objectives of this study were to identify and describe the demographics and social conditions as well as characteristics of the places of death in a randomly selected sample that died in a county in Sweden during 2001. The present study reports part of the findings from a larger study undertaken during 2003 using a survey design of retrospective reviews of death certificates, medical records, and nursing records. Among several noteworthy findings are: first, an examination of these individuals' living arrangements reveal not only a large and vulnerable group that lives alone at the end-of-life but also a group living separated from their partners near end-of-life; second, individuals differ with respect to residence prior to death, that is private homes versus residential care facilities, imparting highly different contexts of care at the end-of-life; and third, a high prevalence of institutionalized deaths demonstrates that places of death other than hospitals and residential care facilities are uncommon, if not rare. It is concluded that increased attention to the social circumstances of the time period surrounding individuals' at the end-of-life is essential. There is need to develop more integrated models of care for dying people. Contemporary services available are not designed to meet a wide range of peoples' needs at the end-of-life. Home-based care, residential care and hospital care must be adapted to the changing patterns of dying. The services available should be organized to the benefit of the users rather than around the providers. This is the first study of its kind of a Swedish sample and while the data are limited to one county in Sweden its findings may contribute to a deeper understanding of demographic and social patterns at the end-of-life in general.
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| 8. |
- Jakobsson, Eva, 1960, et al.
(författare)
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The turning point: Clinical identification of dying and reorientation of care.
- 2006
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Ingår i: Journal of palliative medicine. - : Mary Ann Liebert Inc. - 1096-6218 .- 1557-7740. ; 9:6, s. 1348-58
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Palliative care is increasingly organized within the setting of formal health care systems but the demarcation has become unclear between, on the one hand, care directed at cure and rehabilitation and palliative care aimed at relief of suffering on the other. With the purpose to increase the understanding about the turning point reflecting identification of dying and reorientation of care, this study explores this phenomenon as determined from health care records of a representative sample (n = 229). A turning point was identified in 160 records. Presence of circulatory diseases, sporadic confinement to bed, and deterioration of condition had a significant impact upon the incidence of such turning point. The time interval between the turning point and actual death ranged between one and 210 days. Thirty percent of these turning points were documented within the last day of life, 33% during the last 2-7 days, 19.5% during the last 8-30 days, 13% during the last 31-90 days, and 4.5% during the last 91-210 days of life. The time interval between the turning point and actual death was significantly longer among individuals with neoplasm(s) and significantly shorter among individuals suffering from musculoskeletal diseases. Perhaps this reflects a discrepancy between the ideals of palliative care, and a misinterpretation of the meaning of palliative care in everyday clinical practice. The findings underscore that improvement in timing of clinical identification of dying and reorientation of care will likely favour a shift from life-extending care to palliative care.
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| 9. |
- Jakobsson, Eva, et al.
(författare)
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Utilization of health-care services at the end-of-life
- 2006
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Ingår i: Health Policy. - : Elsevier. - 0168-8510 .- 1872-6054. ; 82:3, s. 276-287
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- End-of-life care poses a growing clinical and policy concern since most people who are dying utilize health-care services during this period of life. Hence, end-of-life care is a common and integral part of the care provided by health-care systems. There is a growing call for the implementation of a palliative approach as an integral part of all end-of-life care. The purpose of this study was thus to provide policy-makers, health-care providers and professional caregivers with increased knowledge about mainstream patterns of health-care utilization during end-of-life. The patterns of use of health-care services in a Swedish population who accessed the health-care system during their last 3 months of life were in this study examined through a retrospective examinations of medical and nursing records (n = 229). We found high prevalences of use of both hospital care, primary care and care provided in people's homes and nearly three quarters of the persons included in the study used between two and three health-care services. However, the probability of using different health-care services was found to be strongly depending on demographic, social, functional and disease related characteristics. The study reveals a considerable use of different health-care services during end-of-life. It is hence essential to, on one hand delineate how such health-care services best can support people at the end-of-life, and on the other hand develop policies which facilitate the process of dying, both in hospitals as well as in peoples’ homes. Implications for policy are discussed.
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| 10. |
- Kenne Sarenmalm, Elisabeth, et al.
(författare)
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Symptom Burden Clusters : A Challenge for Targeted Symptom Management. A Longitudinal Study Examining Symptom Burden Clusters in Breast Cancer
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. - : Elsevier. - 0885-3924 .- 1873-6513. ; 47:4, s. 731-741
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: Although there has been a growing interest in cancer symptom clusters, less is known about symptom burden clusters.Objectives: To explore clusters of burdensome symptoms over time, the impact on health status and quality of life, and coping capacity in patients with breast cancer.Methods: In this longitudinal study, a sample of 206 patients completed the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire, and the Sense of Coherence scale, at diagnosis of primary or recurrent breast cancer, and at one-, three-, and six-month follow-ups.Results: Three clusters of burdensome symptoms were identified: emotional symptom burden, gastrointestinal symptom burden, and unwellness symptom burden. Most burdensome were emotional symptoms, with worrying, feeling sad, and feeling nervous as the core or defining symptoms. Over time, additional symptoms escalated the emotional symptom burden. The gastrointestinal symptom burden, with "change in the way food tastes" as a core symptom, was more often associated with chemotherapy. Less stable over time, the unwellness symptom burden could be interpreted as short- and long-term side effects of hormonal therapy. Of these clusters, only the emotional symptom burden cluster significantly diminished health status and quality of life. Patients reporting lower coping capacity experienced higher levels of symptom burden.Conclusion: This study provides insights into symptom burden clusters over time. A challenging approach toward symptom management in clinical oncology is to target the burden of a symptom cluster and to recognize the need for individually designed interventions to ameliorate symptom burden in cancer patients.
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