| 1. |
- Adam, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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Quality of nursing care as perceived by cancer patients : a cross-sectional survey in four European countries
- 2017
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Ingår i: Balkan Union of Oncology. Journal. - 1107-0625. ; 22:3, s. 777-782
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To explore and compare cancer patients' perceptions on the quality of nursing care in four European countries. Methods: Data were collected in Cyprus, Finland, Greece and Sweden. The sample comprised 596 hospitalized cancer patients. The quality of nursing care was measured using the "Oncology Patients' Perceptions of the Quality of Nursing Care Scale" (OPPQNCS). Patient characteristics were also collected. Analysis of variance was used to examine the effects of country on the perceptions of the quality of nursing care. Results: Patients' age ranged from 18 to 86 years, and 58% were male. The comparison of cancer patients' perceptions regarding the quality of nursing care between the four countries showed a statistically significant difference in the total OPPQNCS scores (p <0.001) as well as in the subscales responsiveness (p <0.001), individualization (p<0.001), co ordination (p<0.001) and proficiency (p<0.001). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the OPPQNCS ranged between 0.89 and 0.95. A multivariate analysis of variance for the OPPQNCS controlled by respondents' demographic characteristics revealed that only the patient's country was significantly related with the patients' perceptions of quality care. Conclusion: Quality of nursing care as perceived by cancer patients was high, but differed between the four countries. The impact of the clinical status of cancer patients on the quality of nursing care and managerial factors such as staffing/nursing care delivery models that influence the ability of nurses to offer high quality care should also be explored by more focused studies.
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| 2. |
- Adam, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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Quality of nursing care as perceived by cancer patients : A cross-sectional survey in four European countries
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Journal of B.U.ON.. - 1107-0625. ; 22:3, s. 777-782
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To explore and compare cancer patients' perceptions on the quality of nursing care in four European countries. Methods: Data were collected in Cyprus, Finland, Greece and Sweden. The sample comprised 596 hospitalized cancer patients. The quality of nursing care was measured using the “Oncology Patients' Perceptions of the Quality of Nursing Care Scale” (OPPQNCS). Patient characteristics were also collected. Analysis of variance was used to examine the effects of country on the perceptions of the quality of nursing care. Results: Patients' age ranged from 18 to 86 years, and 58% were male. The comparison of cancer patients' perceptions regarding the quality of nursing care between the four countries showed a statistically significant difference in the total OPPQNCS scores (p<0.001) as well as in the subscales responsiveness (p<0.001), individualization (p<0.001), coordination (p<0.001) and proficiency (p<0.001). The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the OPPQNCS ranged between 0.89 and 0.95. A multivariate analysis of variance for the OPPQNCS controlled by respondents' demographic characteristics revealed that only the patient's country was significantly related with the patients' perceptions of quality care. Conclusion: Quality of nursing care as perceived by cancer patients was high, but differed between the four countries. The impact of the clinical status of cancer patients on the quality of nursing care and managerial factors such as staffing/nursing care delivery models that influence the ability of nurses to offer high quality care should also be explored by more focused studies.
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| 3. |
- Mauri, Davide, et al.
(författare)
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Behind the numbers and the panic of a viral pandemic : fixed restrictive oncology guidance may jeopardize patients' survival
- 2020
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Ingår i: Balkan Union of Oncology. Journal. - : Zerbinis Publications. - 1107-0625. ; 25:3, s. 1277-1280
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To protect cancer patients from COVID-19 exposure, prioritization strategies are being implemented at global level. Measures include use of tele-health services, deferring elective surgeries, delaying non life-saving therapies, interrupting maintenance and supportive care regimens and suspending screening and regular follow-up visits.Nonetheless, the risk of infection may not always outweigh oncology treatment benefit. Lives of most oncology patients depend on their ability to receive medical, surgical and radiotherapy care. Postponing screening,follow-up and radical surgeries increase patients' risk of developing metastatic disease.A viral pandemic lasts long time and exhibits seasonal and geographical variations. Though vaccines will be available only in the 2021, a global, aggressive, all-embracing and protracted slowdown of oncologic activities will severely jeopardize patients' outcomes.A present international oncologists' panel, ECPC and FAVO, strongly suggest that Hospital measures in a specific geographical area/Nation should be in line with the local epidemic, and restrictions adopted should be adapted and stratified over time.
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| 4. |
- Mauri, Davide, et al.
(författare)
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Cancer pain ... who cares? : International and national patterns of evidence-based global guide-lines recommendations for physicians on the Web (2011 vs. 2018)
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of B.U.ON. (JBUON). - 1107-0625 .- 2241-6293. ; 25:1, s. 62-73
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Although pain is a common event during treatment of cancer, its assessment and management remains suboptimal in everyday clinical practice at global level.Methods: Considering both the important role of Internet in daily life and that clinical guidelines are important for translating evidence in clinical practice, we performed a prospective study to scrutinize the magnitude of updated evidence-based cancer-pain guideline recommendation for physicians on the web. Changes over-time at a global level were scrutinized at two time points: 2011 for baseline and 2018 at first follow-up. Both anesthesiology and oncology societies were analyzed.Results: In 2011 we scrutinized 181,00 WebPages and 370 eligible societies were identified; 364 of these were eligible for analyses both in 2011 and 2018. The magnitude of cancer pain updated and evidence-based guideline recommendations on the web for health care providers was extremely low at global level and at any time point considered 1.1% (4/364) in 2011 and 4.7% (17364) in 2018. Continental and intercontinental patterns, National's highest developmental index, oncology tradition and economic-geographic areas were not found to influence cancer pain web-guideline provision. In 2018, pain & supportive care societies provided the highest rate of updated evidence-based cancer-pain guidelines for clinicians. Only 3/25 medical oncology societies and 1/34 radiation oncology societies, provided own or e-link (to other societies) evidence-based guidelines in their websites.Conclusions: Major medical oncology and radiation oncology societies - at global level - fail to produce updated cancer pain recommendations for their physicians, with most of these providing no or inconsistent or outdated guidelines.
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| 5. |
- Mauri, Davide, et al.
(författare)
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Facing internet fake-medicine and web para-pharmacy in the total absence of official recommendations from medical societies
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of B.U.ON. : official journal of the Balkan Union of Oncology. - : BAKIS Productions LTD. - 2241-6293. ; 24:4, s. 1314-1325
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: Internet fake information, parapharmacy and counterfeit drugs are a market of hundreds of billion dollars. Misleading internet data decrease patients' compliance to medical care, promote use of questionable and detrimental practices, and jeopardize patient outcome. This is particularly harmful among cancer patients, especially when pain and nutritional aspects are considered. Provision of Web recommendations for the general audience (patients, relatives, general population) from official medical-providers might be useful to outweigh the detrimental internet information produced by non-medical providers.METHODS: 370 oncology and anesthesiology related societies were analyzed. Our objective was to evaluate the magnitude of web-recommendation for cancer cachexia and cancer pain for the general audience provided by official medical organizations' web sites at global level.RESULTS: Magnitude of web-recommendations at global level was surprisingly scant both for coverage and consistency. Seven official medical societies provided updated web-recommendation for cancer cachexia to their patients/family members, and 15 for cancer pain. Scantiness was unrelated by continent, developmental index, oncology tradition, economic-geographic area and society type scrutinized.CONCLUSIONS: Patients need expert advice when exposed to fake internet information largely dominated by paramedical market profits. In this era of "new media" the patients' net-education represents a new major educational challenge for medical societies.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Mavroidis, P., et al.
(författare)
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Comparison of the 3D-conformal, helical tomotherapy and multileaf collimators-based intensity modulated radiotherapy modalities using radiobiological measures
- 2008
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Ingår i: JOURNAL OF BUON. - 1107-0625. ; 13:1, s. 75-86
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) using multileaf collimators (MLC) and helical tomotherapy (HT) have become increasingly popular over the past few years. However their clinical efficacy and effectiveness continue to be investigated. In order to provide a more thorough evaluation and comparison of treatment plans, the utilization of the biologically effective uniform dose (D) together with the complication-free tumor control probability (P+) are examined. Materials and methods:In this study, a typical case of lung cancer was investigated by developing a 3D conformal treatment plan, a linac MLC-based step-and-shoot IMRT plan and a HT plan. The 3 different treatment plans were compared based on radiobiological measures by using the P+ index and the D concept as the common prescription point of the plans and plotting the tissue response probabilities vs. D for a range of prescription doses. Results: The applied plan evaluation method showed that in this lung cancer case the MLC-based IMRT plan was best over the clinically useful dose prescription range. The 3D-conformal, MLC-based IMRT and HT treatment plans gave a P+ of 55.4%, 72.9% and 66.9%, for a D to the internal target volume (ITV) of 57.0 Gy, 66.9 Gy and 64.0 Gy, respectively. Conclusion: In comparison to 3D conformal radiotherapy, both Affi based-IMRT and HT can better encompass the often large ITV required while minimizing the volume of the organs at risk receiving high dose. Taking into account the dose-response relations of the irradiated tumors and normal tissues, a radiobiological treatment plan evaluation can be performed, which may provide a closer association of the delivered treatment with the clinical outcome.
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| 8. |
- Popovic, S., et al.
(författare)
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Endoplasmic reticulum stress associated with caspases-4 and-2 mediates korbazol-induced B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia cell apoptosis
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Buon. - 1107-0625. ; 15:4, s. 783-790
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is an incurable disease that rapidly develops drug resistance. Therefore there is a need for identifying new agents that will improve the therapeutic outcome. Korbazol is a natural product known to exert cytotoxic effect on the in vitro survival of leukemic cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of korbazol-induced apoptosis in B-CLL leukemic cells. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 10 B-CLL patients were used for assessing the effect of caspase inhibitors and chelator of intracellular Ca2+ Results: Cell death rate induced by the tested compound was decreased with the caspase-3 inhibitor Ac-DEVD-CHO, and the inhibitors of caspase-2 (Z-VDVAD-FMK) and -4 (ZYVAD-FMK), but not with the caspase-9 inhibitor z-LEHD-FMK and caspase-8 inhibitor z-IETD-FMK No significant release of cytochrome C (cyt C) from mitochondria to the cytosol of B-CLL cells treated with korbazol was observed. Moreover, chelating of intracellular Ca2+ with BAPTA-AM almost completely abolished the cytotoxic effect of korbazol. Conclusion: Engagement of caspases-2 and -4 and mobilization of intracellular Ca2+ indicate involvement of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in apoptosis induced by korbazol.
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