| 1. |
- Näppä, Ulla, et al.
(författare)
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Avoiding harmful palliative chemotherapy treatment in the end of life : development of a brief patient-completed questionnaire for routine assessment of performance status
- 2012
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Ingår i: The journal of supportive oncology. - : Elsevier. - 1544-6794. ; 10:6, s. 230-237
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Earlier studies have shown that up to 43% of patients with incurable cancer are treated with palliative chemotherapy in the last month of their lives. Although pretreatment blood tests are acceptable, the patient's general condition may not permit further palliative chemotherapy treatment (PCT). Presently, there is no patient self-assessment tool available to monitor performance status during PCT.OBJECTIVES: To describe the development process of the Performance Status in Palliative Chemotherapy (PSPC) questionnaire, and the testing of its psychometric properties.METHODS: The questionnaire was developed by the authors based on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status Rating (ECOG PSR) scale as well as their clinical experience with PCT. Adult patients who were diagnosed with epithelial cancers (n = 118) were enrolled to test the PSPC questionnaire for reliability, sensitivity for change, and validity.RESULTS: After stepwise modifications of the PSPC questionnaire, psychometric tests revealed acceptable values for reliability (via a test-retest method), sensitivity for change (via a comparison of patients with progressive disease over time), and validity (via a comparison of the PSPC vs the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System [ESAS]).LIMITATIONS: At this stage of questionnaire development, we are unable to conclude whether the PSPC is superior to the conventional ECOG PSR in the evaluation of performance status and the prediction of chemotherapy response.CONCLUSION: Psychometric tests suggest that the PSPC questionnaire may be a useful patient-completed tool in the late stages of cancer disease to routinely monitor performance status in palliative chemotherapy treatments so as to minimize the risk of inflicting more harm than good.
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| 2. |
- Näppä, Ulla, 1960-, et al.
(författare)
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Challenging situations when administering palliative chemotherapy : a nursing perspective
- 2014
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Ingår i: European Journal of Oncology Nursing. - : Elsevier. - 1462-3889 .- 1532-2122. ; 18:6, s. 591-597
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Palliative chemotherapy treatments (PCT) are becoming more common for patients with incurable cancer; a basic challenge is to optimize tumour response while minimizing side-effects and harm. As registered nurses most often administer PCT, they are most likely to be confronted with difficult situations during PCT administration. This study explores challenging situations experienced by nurses when administering PCT to patients with incurable cancer.Methods: Registered nurses experienced in administering PCT were asked in interviews to recall PCT situations they found challenging. Inspired by the narrative tradition, stories were elicited and analysed using a structural and thematic narrative analysis.Results: A total of twenty-eight stories were narrated by seventeen nurses. Twenty of these were dilemmas that could be sorted into three storylines containing one to three dilemmatic situations each. The six dilemmatic situations broadly related to three interwoven areas: the uncertainty of the outcome when giving potent drugs to vulnerable patients; the difficulty of resisting giving PCT to patients who want it; and insufficient communication between nurses and physician.Conclusion: Nurses who administer PCT are engaged in a complex task that can give rise to a number of dilemmatic situations. The findings may be interpreted as meaning that at least some situations might be preventable if the knowledge and insight of all team members – nurses, physicians, patients, and relatives – are jointly communicated and taken into account when deciding whether or not to give PCT. Forming palliative care teams early in the PCT trajectory, could be beneficial for staff and patients.
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| 3. |
- Näppä, Ulla, 1960-
(författare)
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Dilemmas in palliative chemotherapy when approaching end-of-life
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background When cure is no longer possible, medical care should aim for a transition to palliative care regardless of disease. Patients with incurable cancer are often treated with palliative chemotherapy (PCT), starting with the intent to prolong life and increase quality of life. Eventually, in the late stages of the disease, the patient reaches a transition phase when further PCT neither prolongs life nor adds any predominantly positive effects.Aim of the thesisStudy I: To analyse the proportion of patients with incurable cancer who received palliative chemotherapy during the last month of life, and to identify their discriminative characteristics.Study II: To develop a questionnaire assessing performance status in palliative chemotherapy, and to test its psychometric properties.Study III: To explore challenging situations experienced by registered nurses when administering palliative chemotherapy to patients with incurable cancer.Study IV: To investigate whether routine use of the Performance Status in Palliative Chemotherapy (PSPC) questionnaire in PCT would affect the proportion of patients receiving PCT during the last month of life, hospital admissions, notifications of performance status, documented decisions of ceasing PCT in the medical records, and/or place of death. A secondary aim was to gather registered nurses’ experiences of PSPC in clinical use.Methods In Studies I and IV, information from the medical records of deceased patients with epithelial cancers was used in descriptive analyses of the proportions of patients receiving PCT in counties in northernmost Sweden. A quantitative design was chosen, using non-parametric statistical methods. In Study II, a brief patient-completed questionnaire assessing performance status was developed and psychometrically tested. In Study III, data from research interviews with registered nurses were analysed qualitatively with a narrative thematic approach.Results Studies I and IV showed that about 25% of patients receiving PCT were treated during the last month of life. This group of patients had more hospital admissions, were less likely to die at home, and had fewer instances of documentation of the decision to cease PCT. The questionnaire developed in Study II was shown to have acceptable psychometric qualities such as reliability, validity, and sensitivity to detect deterioration in performance status. Study IV showed that the questionnaire gave nurses valuable information about patients’ performance status. The results also showed that 97% of nurses and 48% of physicians documented their patients’ performance status in the medical records. Study III demonstrated that when nurses administered PCT they considered futile, they could experience dilemmas created by the unforeseeable outcomes of PCT or stemming from insufficient communication between nurses, patients, next-of-kin, and physicians.Conclusions Administration of PCT can create dilemmatic situations for both the patient and medical staff when approaching end-of-life. This is underlined by the finding that some 25% of treated patients received their last round of PCT as late as during the last month of life. The decisions to cease PCT were less likely to be documented for patients who had received PCT within a month before death. Nurses described situations where they felt they were in the middle of the decision-making process regarding whether or not to continue PCT. They found the treatments were given on the authority of someone else; the physician’s recommendation or the patient’s and/or relatives’ request.The unpredictability of PCT was a continuous theme in the work described in this thesis, emphasizing the necessity of individually assessing every patient before PCT in order to minimize the risk of futile treatments. The attempt to develop a reliable and valid questionnaire for systematic assessment of performance status has increased future possibilities to monitor this parameter in PCT when approaching end-of-life. The questionnaire developed as part of this thesis has provided nurses with increased knowledge of patients’ performance status. If routinely used, it may help decrease the proportion of patients receiving PCT during the last month of life, though this remains to be rigorously proven. Further research efforts are needed to progress in the task of optimizing rather than maximizing the use of PCT when approaching end-of-life.
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| 4. |
- Araghi, Marzieh, et al.
(författare)
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Smokeless tobacco (snus) use and colorectal cancer incidence and survival : Results from nine pooled cohorts
- 2017
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : SAGE Publications. - 1403-4948 .- 1651-1905. ; 45:8, s. 741-748
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIMS: Although smoking is considered to be an established risk factor for colorectal cancer, the current evidence on the association between smokeless tobacco and colorectal cancer is scant and inconclusive. We used pooled individual data from the Swedish Collaboration on Health Effects of Snus Use to assess this association.METHODS: A total of 417,872 male participants from nine cohort studies across Sweden were followed up for incidence of colorectal cancer and death. Outcomes were ascertained through linkage to health registers. We used shared frailty models with random effects at the study level to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).RESULTS: During 7,135,504 person-years of observation, 4170 men developed colorectal cancer. There was no clear association between snus use and colorectal cancer overall. Exclusive current snus users, however, had an increased risk of rectal cancer (HR 1.40: 95% CI 1.09, 1.79). There were no statistically significant associations between snus use and either all-cause or colorectal cancer-specific mortality after colorectal cancer diagnosis.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings, from a large sample, do not support any strong relationships between snus use and colorectal cancer risk and survival among men. However, the observed increased risk of rectal cancer is noteworthy, and in merit of further attention.
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| 5. |
- Araghi, Marzieh, et al.
(författare)
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Use of moist oral snuff (snus) and pancreatic cancer : Pooled analysis of nine prospective observational studies
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cancer. - : Wiley. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 141:4, s. 687-693
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- While smoking is a well-established risk factor for pancreatic cancer, the effect of smokeless tobacco is less well understood. We used pooled individual data from the Swedish Collaboration on Health Effects of Snus Use to assess the association between Swedish snus use and the risk of pancreatic cancer. A total of 424,152 male participants from nine cohort studies were followed up for risk of pancreatic cancer through linkage to health registers. We used shared frailty models with random effects at the study level, to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) adjusted for confounding factors. During 9,276,054 person-years of observation, 1,447 men developed pancreatic cancer. Compared to never-snus use, current snus use was not associated with risk of pancreatic cancer (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.83-1.11) after adjustment for smoking. Swedish snus use does not appear to be implicated in the development of pancreatic cancer in men. Tobacco smoke constituents other than nicotine or its metabolites may account for the relationship between smoking and pancreatic cancer. What's new? While smoking is a well-established risk factor for pancreatic cancer, the effect of smokeless tobacco is less well understood. Smokeless tobacco like snus yields lower exposure to tobacco carcinogens compared with smoking, because it does not undergo combustion, but delivers an equivalent dose of nicotine. Using pooled individual data from the Swedish Collaboration on Health Effects of Snus Use, here the authors show that Swedish snus use does not appear to be implicated in the development of pancreatic cancer in men. Tobacco smoke constituents other than nicotine or its metabolites may account for the relationship between smoking and pancreatic cancer.
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| 6. |
- Axelsson, Bertil, et al.
(författare)
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Analgesic effect of paracetamol on cancer related pain in concurrent strong opioid therapy. A prospective clinical study
- 2008
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Ingår i: Acta Oncologica. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0284-186X .- 1651-226X. ; 47:5, s. 891-895
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Introduction. In palliative cancer care, when approaching death, swallowing difficulties and the burden of tablet intake frequently makes us reconsider each individual drug prescribed. Through the last two decades the routine of always combining a strong opioid with paracetamol has been widely spread in Sweden. Clinical experience has challenged this routine as many patients seem to manage equally well without paracetamol. To find out whether this might be of clinical importance, we wanted to perform a more systematic registration. Material and methods. Thirty-four incurable cancer patients with well controlled pain (NRS 4), treated by specialised palliative home care teams, with ongoing medication with the strong opioid paracetamol combination was recruited to this prospective clinical study. The effect of completely stopping paracetamol medication was evaluated four days later at follow-up. Results. At follow-up nine patients (26%) felt more pain compared to when they entered the study, two patients (6%) felt less pain and 23 (68%) felt no difference. When asked about their preference about future paracetamol treatment 18 patients (53%) wanted to stop taking it, six patients (18%) wanted to continue with regular paracetamol medication as before, and ten patients (29%) wanted to take paracetamol as needed. No clinical predictors of paracetamol response could be identified. Discussion. The results of this study indicate that a critical evaluation, in every patient, of the subjective additive analgesic effect of paracetamol in concurrent strong opioid therapy is advisable and that stopping paracetamol medication not necessarily implies increased pain. Rather in some patients the cessation of paracetamol medication is experienced as a relief as pain control is maintained with a lesser tablet burden.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Bayadsi, Haytham, 1987-, et al.
(författare)
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The correlation between small papillary thyroid cancers and gamma radionuclides Cs-137, Th-232, U-238 and K-40 using spatially-explicit, register-based methods
- 2023
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Ingår i: Spatial and Spatio-Temporal Epidemiology. - : Elsevier. - 1877-5845 .- 1877-5853. ; 47
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A steep increase of small papillary thyroid cancers (sPTCs) has been observed globally. A major risk factor for developing PTC is ionizing radiation. The aim of this study is to investigate the spatial distribution of sPTC in Sweden and the extent to which prevalence is correlated to gamma radiation levels (Caesium-137 (Cs-137), Thorium-232 (Th-232), Uranium-238 (U-238) and Potassium-40 (K-40)) using multiple geospatial and geo-statistical methods. The prevalence of metastatic sPTC was associated with significantly higher levels of Gamma radiation from Th-232, U-238 and K-40. The association is, however, inconsistent and the prevalence is higher in densely populated areas. The results clearly indicate that sPTC has causative factors that are neither evenly distributed among the population, nor geographically, calling for further studies with bigger cohorts. Environ-mental factors are believed to play a major role in the pathogenesis of the disease.
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| 9. |
- Browall, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Daily assessment of stressful events and coping among post-menopausal women with breast cancer treated with adjuvant chemotherapy : Original article
- 2009
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Ingår i: European Journal of Cancer Care. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0961-5423 .- 1365-2354. ; 18:5, s. 507-516
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of the study was twofold: to examine what type of daily stressful events post-menopausal woman with breast cancer experience during adjuvant chemotherapy and how bothersome these are and to identify coping strategies used by these women used to manage such stressful events. The patient group comprised 75 consecutively invited women (≥55 years of age) at two university hospitals and one county hospital in Sweden. The Daily Coping Assessment was used to collect data over time. Data were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Six categories of stressful events were identified: 'nausea and vomiting', 'fatigue', 'other symptoms', 'isolation and alienation', 'fear of the unknown' and 'being controlled by the treatment'. The first three categories were subsumed under the domain physical problems and the latter three under psychosocial problems. Almost 30% of the diary entries recorded no stressful event. Physical problems were three times as frequent as psychosocial problems. 'Nausea/vomiting' was the most frequently observed stressful event (21.6%). 'Isolation and alienation' and 'fear of the unknown' were less frequent, but when they occurred they were rated as the most distressing. Several coping strategies were used to manage each stressful event. The most common strategies were acceptance, relaxation and distraction. Religion was rarely used as a coping strategy.
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| 10. |
- Browall, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a New Short Version of the Swedish Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale
- 2021
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Ingår i: Cancer Nursing. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0162-220X .- 1538-9804. ; 44:4, s. 305-313
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying (FATCOD) is widely used as a measure of attitudes toward care of dying patients. However, poor factor structure and item redundancy have been reported across the literature.OBJECTIVE: A short version of the questionnaire is needed, to facilitate effective assessments of the attitudes of those caring for dying patients. The purpose of this study was to develop a FATCOD-Short Form and to secure its psychometric properties.INTERVENTIONS/METHODS: Data gathered from 1000 nurses in previous studies were pooled and reanalyzed. Principal components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were utilized to assess the factor structure of the FATCOD-30. A Rasch model was used to evaluate the measurement functioning of the scale.RESULTS: Of the original 30 items, 9 items of FATCOD were chosen for retention in the short form based on the principal components analysis, floor or ceiling effects, interitem correlations, and item-total correlation. All 9 items had good internal reliability. Both confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis supported the unidimensionality of the FATCOD-Short Form.CONCLUSIONS: The 9-item FATCOD-Short Form demonstrates evidence of acceptable validity and reliability to identify nurses' attitudes toward caring for dying persons because of its brevity and comprehensive content.IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: When changing curricula in nursing education or implementing new procedures in nursing practice, it is important to have valid instruments to evaluate the results of the change. Such instruments should not be too lengthy or complicated. FATCOD-Short Form is a brief and valid instrument that can be easily used.
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