Assessing Pain Among Oncology and Terminally Ill Patients

Abstract Background The clinical use of patient-reported outcomes as compared to inflammatory biomarkers for predicting cancer survival remains a challenge in palliative care settings. We evaluated the role of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative scores (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) and the inflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin (Alb), and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) for survival prediction in patients with advanced cancer. Methods This was an observational study in terminally ill patients with cancer hospitalized in a palliative care unit between June 2018 and December 2019. Patients’ data collected at the time of hospitalization were analyzed. Cox regression was performed to examine significant factors influencing survival. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to estimate cut-off values for predicting survival within 3 weeks, and a log-rank test was performed to compare survival curves between groups divided by the cut-off values. Results Totally, 130 patients participated in the study. Cox regression suggested that the QLQ-C15-PAL dyspnea and fatigue scores and levels of CRP, Alb, and NLR were significantly associated with survival time, and cut-off values were 66.67, 66.67, 3.0 mg/dL, 2.5 g/dL, and 8.2, respectively. The areas under ROC curves of these variables were 0.6–0.7. There were statistically significant differences in the survival curves between groups categorized using each of these cut-off values (p < .05 for all cases). Conclusion Our findings suggest that the assessment of not only objective indicators for the systemic inflammatory response but also patient-reported outcomes using EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL is beneficial for the prediction of short-term survival in terminally ill patients with cancer.

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Symptom clusters and their influence on prognosis using EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL scores in terminally ill patients with cancer

Supportive Care in Cancer ◽

10.1007/s00520-021-06380-w ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nanako Koyama ◽

Chikako Matsumura ◽

Yuuna Tahara ◽

Morito Sako ◽

Hideo Kurosawa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

Terminally Ill ◽

Symptom Clusters ◽

Rank Test ◽

Appetite Loss ◽

Patients With Cancer ◽

Terminally Ill Patients ◽

Log Rank Test ◽

Eortc Qlq ◽

Cluster 2

Abstract Purpose The aims of the present study were to investigate the symptom clusters in terminally ill patients with cancer using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 Palliative Care (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL), and to examine whether these symptom clusters influenced prognosis. Methods We analyzed data from 130 cancer patients hospitalized in the palliative care unit from June 2018 to December 2019 in an observational study. Principal component analysis was used to detect symptom clusters using the scored date of 14 items in the QLQ-C15-PAL, except for overall QOL, at the time of hospitalization. The influence of the existence of these symptom clusters and Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) on survival was analyzed by Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, and survival curves were compared between the groups with or without existing corresponding symptom clusters using the log-rank test. Results The following symptom clusters were identified: cluster 1 (pain, insomnia, emotional functioning), cluster 2 (dyspnea, appetite loss, fatigue, and nausea), and cluster 3 (physical functioning). Cronbach’s alpha values for the symptom clusters ranged from 0.72 to 0.82. An increased risk of death was significantly associated with the existence of cluster 2 and poor PPS (log-rank test, p = 0.016 and p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusion In terminally ill patients with cancer, three symptom clusters were detected based on QLQ-C15-PAL scores. Poor PPS and the presence of symptom cluster that includes dyspnea, appetite loss, fatigue, and nausea indicated poor prognosis.

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The management of terminally ill patients

The Medical Journal of Australia ◽

10.5694/j.1326-5377.1992.tb137447g.x ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 157 (10) ◽

pp. 715-715

Author(s):

John C Doran

Keyword(s):

Terminally Ill ◽

Terminally Ill Patients

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Facing Death: Attitudes toward Physician-Assisted End of Life among Physicians Working at a Tertiary-Care-Hospital in Israel

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18126396 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (12) ◽

pp. 6396

Author(s):

Keren Dopelt ◽

Dganit Cohen ◽

Einat Amar-Krispel ◽

Nadav Davidovitch ◽

Paul Barach

Keyword(s):

End Of Life ◽

Tertiary Care Hospital ◽

Human Life ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Terminally Ill ◽

Background Information ◽

Care Hospital ◽

Medical Assistance In Dying ◽

Terminally Ill Patients ◽

The Right

The demand for medical assistance in dying remains high and controversial with a large knowledge gap to support optimal patient care. The study aimed to explore physicians’ attitudes regarding euthanasia and examine the factors that related to these attitudes. We surveyed 135 physicians working at a tertiary-care hospital in Israel. The questionnaire was comprised of demographic and background information, DNR procedure information, encounters with terminally ill patients, familiarity with the law regarding end-of-life questions, and Attitudes toward Euthanasia. About 61% agreed that a person has the right to decide whether to expedite their own death, 54% agreed that euthanasia should be allowed, while 29% thought that physicians should preserve a patients’ life even when they expressed the wish to die. A negative statistically significant relationship was found between the level of religiosity and attitudes toward euthanasia. The physicians’ attitudes towards euthanasia are quite positive when compared to other countries. The data shows a conflict of values: the sacredness of human life versus the desire to alleviate patients’ suffering. The Coronavirus-19 outbreak reinforces the importance of supporting physicians’ efforts to provide ethical and empathic communication for terminally ill patients. Future studies should aim to improve our understanding and treatment of the specific types of suffering that lead to end-of-life requests.

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