Psychosocial difficulties identified by health care providers as they predict pain-related quality of life in children with cancer

With improved survival outcomes after pediatric liver transplantation (LT), health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important outcome metric. Understanding the elements contributing to HRQoL after LT in children would enable more targeted strategies towards optimizing best outcomes. This qualitative study aimed to explore health care providers (HCP) perceptions about HRQoL after pediatric LT. Thirteen experienced HCP participated in two focus group discussions. Data analysis via a thematic analysis approach revealed 4 major themes: “LT as a facilitator of better HRQoL,” “coping and adapting to LT,” “living with a transplanted liver,” and “the family context.” HCP identified elements that both enhance (improved physical health, peer relationship, and activities of daily living) and challenge (need for immunosuppression, transplant follow-up, and restrictions) the multidimensional domains of HRQoL. HCP perceived LT to be a stressful life-changing event for children and their families. Patients and their parents’ ability to cope and adjust positively to LT was perceived as a key contributor to better HRQoL. HCP perspective highlights the importance of promoting psychosocial support and a family-centered care delivery model towards the overarching goal of optimizing durable outcomes.

Download Full-text

Rural Health Care Providers' Row to Hoe: Professional Quality of Life

PsycEXTRA Dataset ◽

10.1037/e518552007-001 ◽

2006 ◽

Author(s):

B. Hudnall Stamm ◽

Debra Larsen ◽

Kelly S. Davis

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Health Care ◽

Rural Health ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Rural Health Care ◽

Care Providers ◽

Professional Quality Of Life ◽

Professional Quality

Download Full-text

Patient Suffering in Chronic Digestive Diseases: Will Primary Care-Specialist Collaboration With Effective Interactive Communication and Integrative Medicine in the Plan of Care Improve Quality of Life?

Journal of Patient Experience ◽

10.1177/2374373520967798 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (6) ◽

pp. 989-993

Author(s):

Andrew Thomas ◽

Annie Thomas

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Primary Care ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

The United States ◽

Care Providers ◽

Physician Visits ◽

Digestive Diseases ◽

Care Specialist

Acute and chronic digestive diseases are causing increased burden to patients and are increasing the United States health care spending. The purpose of this case report was to present how nonconfirmatory and conflicting diagnoses led to increased burden and suffering for a patient thus affecting quality of life. There were many physician visits and multiple tests performed on the patient. However, the primary care physician and specialists could not reach a confirmatory diagnosis. The treatment plans did not offer relief of symptoms, and the patient continues to experience digestive symptoms, enduring this burden for over 2 years. The central theme of this paper is to inform health care providers the importance of utilizing evidence-based primary care specialist collaboration models for better digestive disease outcomes. Consistent with patient’s experience, the authors propose to pilot/adopt the integrative health care approaches that are proven effective for treating digestive diseases.

Download Full-text

How Are You Feeling? Who Wants To Know? Patients’ and Oncologists’ Preferences for Discussing Health-Related Quality-of-Life Issues

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2000.18.18.3295 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 18 (18) ◽

pp. 3295-3301 ◽

Cited By ~ 238

Author(s):

S.B. Detmar ◽

N.K. Aaronson ◽

L.D. V. Wever ◽

M. Muller ◽

J.H. Schornagel

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Physical Symptoms ◽

Psychosocial Issues ◽

Care Providers ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

Wide Range ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related

PURPOSE: This study investigated (1) the attitudes of cancer patients toward discussing health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) issues; (2) the association between such attitudes and patients’ characteristics; and (3) oncologists’ attitudes and self-reported behavior regarding these same issues. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred seventy-three patients receiving palliative chemotherapy and ten physicians were asked to complete a series of questionnaires. RESULTS: Almost all patients wanted to discuss their physical symptoms and physical functioning and were also willing to address their emotional functioning and daily activities. However, 25% of the patients were only willing to discuss these latter two issues at the initiative of their physician. Patients varied most in their willingness to discuss their family and social life, with 20% reporting no interest in discussing these issues at all. Female patients were more reluctant to discuss various HRQL issues than male patients. Older and less well-educated patients were more likely to prefer that their physician initiate discussion of HRQL issues. All physicians considered it to be primarily their task to discuss the physical aspects of their patients’ health, whereas four physicians indicated that discussion of psychosocial issues was a task to be shared with other health care providers. All physicians indicated that they generally defer to their patients in initiating discussion of psychosocial issues. CONCLUSION: Although both patients and oncologists seem willing to discuss a wide range of HRQL issues, communication regarding psychosocial issues may be hampered by competing expectations as to who should take the lead in initiating such discussions.

Download Full-text

Online public reactions to frequency of diagnostic errors in US outpatient care

Diagnosis ◽

10.1515/dx-2015-0022 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 17-22 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Traber Davis Giardina ◽

Urmimala Sarkar ◽

Gato Gourley ◽

Varsha Modi ◽

Ashley N.D. Meyer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Quality Of Care ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Diagnostic Errors ◽

News Article ◽

Care Providers ◽

Qualitative Researcher ◽

Related Quality ◽

The Impact

AbstractDiagnostic errors pose a significant threat to patient safety but little is known about public perceptions of diagnostic errors. A study published inWe searched the World Wide Web for any news article reporting findings from the study. We then gathered all the online comments made in response to the news articles to evaluate public reaction to the newly reported diagnostic error frequency (n=241). Two coders conducted content analyses of the comments and an experienced qualitative researcher resolved differences.Overall, there were few comments made regarding the frequency of diagnostic errors. However, in response to the media coverage, 44 commenters shared personal experiences of diagnostic errors. Additionally, commentary centered on diagnosis-related quality of care as affected by two emergent categories: (1) US health care providers (n=79; 63 commenters) and (2) US health care reform-related policies, most commonly the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and insurance/reimbursement issues (n=62; 47 commenters).The public appears to have substantial concerns about the impact of the ACA and other reform initiatives on the diagnosis-related quality of care. However, policy discussions on diagnostic errors are largely absent from the current national conversation on improving quality and safety. Because outpatient diagnostic errors have emerged as a major safety concern, researchers and policymakers should consider evaluating the effects of policy and practice changes on diagnostic accuracy.

Download Full-text

A Canadian perspective on the subcutaneous administration of rituximab in non-Hodgkin lymphoma

Current Oncology ◽

10.3747/co.24.3470 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 33 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

D. MacDonald ◽

T. Crosbie ◽

A. Christofides ◽

W. Assaily ◽

J. Wiernikowski

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Health Care ◽

Hodgkin Lymphoma ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Subcutaneous Administration ◽

Fixed Dose ◽

Care Providers ◽

Health Care Resources ◽

Non Hodgkin Lymphoma

Rituximab is widely used for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, being a key component in most therapeutic regimens. Administration of the intravenous (IV) formulation is lengthy and places a significant burden on health care resources and patient quality of life. A subcutaneous (sc) formulation that provides a fixed dose of rituximab is being examined in a number of studies. Results indicate that the pharmacokinetics are noninferior and response rates are comparable to those obtained with the IV formulation. Moreover, the sc formulation is preferred by patients and health care providers and reduces administration and chair time. Additional advantages include a lesser potential for dosing errors, shorter preparation time, reduced drug wastage, and fewer infusion-related reactions. Despite the success of the sc formulation, correct administration is needed to reduce administration-related reactions. By using a careful procedure, the sc formulation can be given safely and effectively, potentially reducing the burden on health care resources and improving quality of life for patients.

Download Full-text

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use and Its Association with Quality of Life among Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy in Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2016/2809875 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Daniel Asfaw Erku

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Health Care ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Care Providers ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Cam Use

Background.Today, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is being routinely practiced by cancer patients worldwide. This study aimed at examining the prevalence of CAM use in patients with cancer and comparing the quality of life (QoL) in CAM users and nonusers.Methods.A cross-sectional study was employed on 195 cancer patients receiving chemotherapy at Gondar University Referral Hospital (GURH) chemotherapy center. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were used and the collected data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21.0 for Windows.Results.154 (79%) patients were found to be users of CAM. Educational status, average monthly income, disease stage, and comorbidity were strong predictors of use of CAM. The most commonly utilized types of CAM were traditional herbal based medicine (72.1%) and only 20.8% of patients discuss with their doctors CAM use. No significant difference was found in QoL between CAM users and nonusers except in financial difficulties (p=0.020).Conclusions.This study revealed a high rate of CAM use with very low disclosure rate to their health care providers. Health care providers should be open to discuss the use of CAM with their patients as it will lead to better health outcome.

Download Full-text

Comparison between the English and Bahasa Malaysia language versions of the Visual Functioning Questionnaire (VFQ-25) for use in patients with cataracts

BMC Ophthalmology ◽

10.1186/s12886-021-02100-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Thanigasalam Thevi ◽

Adinegara Lutfi Abas ◽

Chang Stephanie Yen Li

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Factor Analysis ◽

Construct Validity ◽

Health Care Providers ◽

Care Providers ◽

English Version ◽

Cronbach’S Alpha ◽

Cronbach's Alpha ◽

Related Quality

Abstract Background We conducted the study to compare the psychometric properties of the English version of the Questionnaire and the Bahasa Malaysia (Malay Language) version regarding the vision-related Quality of Life of patients with cataracts. Methods The Malay version was translated by two independent translators who were well versed in both languages. We carried out a cross-sectional study collecting data between June 2017 and March 2018 in the pre-operative Eye Clinic of Hospital Melaka with 224 respondents (mean age 66.8 years) and another 204 respondents (mean age 64.3 years) participating in the English version and Malay version of the Questionnaire respectively. Methods used to validate the standard questionnaire included the use of construct validity via factor analysis and the deployment of reliability test through assessment of internal consistency via Cronbach’s alpha. Results We observed both English and Bahasa Malaysia versions to have high reliability with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.90 and above in factors on difficulty with activities and responses to vision problems. Exploratory factor analysis performed revealed that the three-factor model fits the data well for the English version of the questionnaire - difficulty with activities (23.81 % of variance), responses to vision problem (22.22 % of variance) and general health and vision (14.68 % of variance). The Bahasa Malaysia version of the questionnaire produced three factors with two of the factors resembling the factors from the original version of the questionnaire - difficulty with activities (24.3 % of variance) and responses to vision problem (23.7 % of variance). Item response theory analysis revealed that these factors for both English and Bahasa Malaysia versions comprised of adequately fitted items. Conclusion The present study observed that both the English and Bahasa Malaysia versions of the NEI VFQ-25 have comparable construct validity to the original American version. With high validity and reliability, the tool shall be able to provide health care providers the assessment of impact due to cataract and other ophthalmic conditions on the vision-related quality of life of ophthalmic patients.

Download Full-text