scholarly journals Lung cancer awareness and palliative care interventions implemented in Africa: A systematic scoping review’

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ugochinyere Ijeoma Nwagbara ◽  
Themba G Ginindza ◽  
Khumbulani W Hlongwana

Abstract Background: Lung cancer is the most common cancer and cause of cancer-related deaths, responsible for nearly one in five deaths across the globe. In low and middle-income countries (LMICs), lung cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage due to poor public knowledge and awareness of the signs and symptoms of lung cancer. It is believed that increasing the awareness about lung cancer is key to reducing the diagnosis and treatment delays. Early implementation of palliative care has also been reported to improve a patient’s quality of life, symptom burden, and even survival. The aim of this paper was to map evidence on lung cancer awareness and palliative care interventions implemented in Africa.Methods: A scoping review was performed following the method of Arksey and O’Malley. Systematic searches were performed using EBSCOhost platform. A keyword search from the following electronic databases were conducted: PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Science Direct, World Health Organization (WHO) library, and grey literature. The screening was guided by the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The quality of the included studies was determined by Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT). A thematic content analysis was used to present the narrative account of the reviews, and NVivo version 11 was employed to extract themes from all included studies.Results: A total of 2886 articles were screened, and 236 met the eligibility criteria. Furthermore, 167 articles were also excluded following abstract screening. Sixty-nine (69) articles were selected for full-article screening by two researchers with 9 being selected for independent detailed data extraction for this synthesis. These studies were also subjected to methodological quality assessment. Of the nine included studies, eight studies described at least one lung cancer warning signs and symptoms, while one study described the effectiveness of palliative care for lung cancer. Eight articles recognized the level of lung cancer knowledge, risk factors and awareness of warning signs and symptoms in LMICs, mostly Africa and Asia.Conclusions: Most of the participants were aware of tobacco use as a risk factor for lung cancer, but the majority still had limited knowledge on the other pre-disposing risk factors. There is limited evidence on the palliative treatment of symptoms, and majority of patients continued to suffer from uncontrolled symptoms and unmet needs. Therefore, the urgent need for timely access to palliative care to be introduced from diagnosis to end of life to improve the quality of life of the lung cancer patients and their families.

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ugochinyere I. Nwagbara ◽  
Themba G. Ginindza ◽  
Khumbulani W. Hlongwana

Abstract Background Lung cancer is the most diagnosed cancer worldwide. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), lung cancer is often diagnosed at a late stage due to poor knowledge and awareness of its signs and symptoms. Increasing lung cancer awareness is likely to reduce the diagnosis and treatment delays. The implementation of early palliative care has also been reported to improve a patient’s quality of life, and even survival. The aim of this scoping review was to map evidence on lung cancer awareness and palliative care interventions implemented in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and other LMICs. Methods This scoping review was guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s framework. Databases such as the EBSCOhost, PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, World Health Organization (WHO) library and grey literature were used to perform systematic searches of relevant articles. The methodological quality assessment of included primary studies was assessed using the Mixed Method Appraisal Tool (MMAT). NVivo version 10 software was used to perform the thematic content analysis of the included studies. Results A total number of screened articles was 2886, with 236 meeting the eligibility criteria and 167 further excluded following abstract screening. Sixty-nine (69) articles qualified for full-article screening and 9 were selected for detailed data extraction and methodological quality assessment. Of the included nine studies, eight described at least one lung cancer warning signs and symptoms, while one described the effectiveness of palliative care for lung cancer. Eight articles recognized the level of lung cancer knowledge, risk factors awareness of warning signs and symptoms in LMICs, mostly Africa and Asia. Conclusions Most of the participants were aware of tobacco use as the major risk factor for lung cancer but lacked knowledge on the other pre-disposing risk factors. Evidence on palliative care is scarce, therefore, awareness interventions packaged with evidence on the value of timely access to palliative care services in improving the quality of life of the lung cancer patients and their families, are required.


Author(s):  
Rafael Turano Mota ◽  
Helder Márcio Ferreira Júnior ◽  
Fabiane Silva Pereira ◽  
Maria Aparecida Vieira ◽  
Simone de Melo Costa

Abstract Objective: To characterize scientific publications on the quality of life of people with lung cancer in order to explore current knowledge of the subject, with emphasis on assessment instruments and methodological aspects. Method: A scoping type literature review was performed. Articles were sought in the databases of the Virtual Health Library, in an integrative manner, with the descriptors: Quality of life and Lung Neoplasms, with no date of publication or language restrictions (n=138). The selection of articles was based on inclusion and exclusion criteria defined in the study proposal. Results: We included 18 publications published between 2006 and 2017, the majority (n = 10) of which had a cross-sectional design. Eight different instruments were used to evaluate the quality of life of patients with lung cancer, four of which were specific for people with cancer. There was a prevalence of the use of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Care Quality of Life Questionnaire - EORTC QLQ-C30 (n=8). Prospective studies (n=8) assessed quality of life before and after chemotherapy, physical therapy or pulmonary resection. The studies adopted different methodologies and provided conflicting results of quality of life. Cross-sectional studies with comparatively healthy subjects found an inferior quality of life for people with lung cancer. Conclusion: The scoping review contributed to the identification of the multiple evaluated instruments, both generic and specific. It found a lack of homogeneity in the methodological approaches of the studies. Further prospective studies with a specific instrument and methodological standardization to evaluate the quality of life of people with lung cancer are recommended.


Author(s):  
Huan-Hwa Chen ◽  
Chich-Hsiu Hung ◽  
Ai-Wen Kao ◽  
Hsiu-Fen Hsieh

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common recurrent functional gastrointestinal disorder that impacts on patients physically and mentally. Studies on IBS have focused on adults, yet few studies have examined IBS among female university students. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of IBS for female university students and its related factors. Using a cross-sectional study design, a total of 2520 female university students were recruited in southern Taiwan. The structured questionnaires, including the Rome III IBS diagnostic questionnaire, IBS symptom severity scale, Perceived Stress Scale, and World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) were used for data collection. A total of 1894 female students complete the questionnaires. The response rate was 75.15%. The results indicated 193 female students with IBS and the prevalence of IBS was 10.1%. IBS female students had higher levels of stress and lower QOL than non-IBS female students. The risk factors for female university students developing IBS were dysmenorrhea, food avoidance, class absenteeism, and the lower physical domain of QOL. It is advised to consider these factors when providing students with counselling and relevant services in the expectation of alleviating their IBS symptoms, reducing the incidence rate of IBS, and further improving their QOL.


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moyra E. Mills ◽  
Liam J. Murray ◽  
Brian T. Johnston ◽  
Chris Cardwell ◽  
Michael Donnelly

Purpose To examine the effect of weekly completion of a patient-held quality-of-life (QOL) diary in routine oncology practice for palliative care patients. Patients and Methods In a pragmatic randomized controlled trial, 115 patients with inoperable lung cancer were randomly assigned to receive either standard care or a structured QOL diary (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 and the related lung cancer module LC13) that they completed at home each week for 16 weeks. Patients were encouraged to share the QOL information with health professionals involved in their care. Changes in QOL over time (measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Lung questionnaire and the Palliative Care Quality of Life Index), discussion of patient problems, and satisfaction with communication and general care were assessed at baseline and at 2 and 4 months after baseline. Results Analysis of QOL indicated a small but consistent difference between patients in the diary group and the standard care group. The diary group had a poorer QOL in many domains. Two different QOL summary scores (total and overall QOL) indicated a statistically significant between-group difference. No effects were found in relation to satisfaction with care, communication, or the discussion of patient problems. Conclusion The regular completion of a QOL questionnaire without appropriate feedback to health care professionals and without the provision of appropriate support may have a negative impact on inoperable lung cancer patients. Further research should focus on identifying features such as feedback loops that are required for the successful and meaningful use of QOL questionnaires in routine patient care.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Jardim de Paula ◽  
Danielle de Souza Costa ◽  
Antônio Geraldo Silva ◽  
Débora Marques de Miranda ◽  
Leandro Malloy-Diniz

Quality of Life (QoL) is a multidimensional estimate of biopsychosocial health and wellbeing.1 The COVID-19 pandemic led to an abrupt change in our lifestyle, demanding resilience and coping mechanisms2. Health care providers are in the frontline of COVID-19 patients’ diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation, and there is a well-documented impact of this context on their physical and mental health2. This might impact their wellbeing and reduce their quality of life. In this research letter, we investigated which factors are associated with QoL in Brazilian healthcare professionals. We aim to investigate both protective and risk factors for the four main aspects of QoL: physical, psychological, social relations, and environment. We assessed 97.771 Brazilian adults, most (92.3%) health professionals of different professions from all the five-country regions. All included individuals agreed in a written consent to participate. Participants showed an average of 35.45 years old (±9.49) and were predominantly female (80%). They answered an online questionnaire about sociodemographic aspects, measures of mental health, and quality of life in the first semester of 2020. A detailed description of the sample and procedures can be found elsewhere3. All participants answered the WHOQoL-BREF, a standardized tool for QoL assessment developed by the World Health Organization. Stepwise linear regression analysis was used to assess the role of sociodemographic factors, previously diagnosed mental disorders, COVID-19 related symptoms as well a series of specific questions regarding participants worries and perceptions about the pandemic, including the protective behaviors' adoption (social distancing, usage of masks and sanitizer, among others). A full list of variables (64 in total) is available on the SAMBE webpage (http://abpbrasil.org.br/pcabp/). Since we have a large sample size our statistical power is about 99% (alpha=0.01) to detect small effect sizes. To simplify our results and allow a more direct application to real-life settings we only included significant predictors which showed at least 1% of adjusted explained variance in the stepwise models. The stepwise regression model was summarized in the figure below. All regression models were significant (p<0.001) as well all the predictors reported in the Figure. Total explained variance was 26% for Physical QoL, 27% for Psychological, 13% for Social Relations, and 19% for Environmental. A history of previous depression, presence of Headache, and the perception of worsening in home relationships were risk factors for lower QoL in all four domains. Our results suggest a multidimensional pattern of determinants of QoL in health care professionals in the early days of the pandemic. Interesting features emerged as predictors of QoL such as changes in home relationships, worsening in work productivity, and mental health. Expected and new predictors may shed light on which factors should be considered in interventions aiming at the development of mitigation of impact QoL in these populations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (09) ◽  
pp. 1976-1982
Author(s):  
Subhan Ullah ◽  
Zubash Aslam ◽  
Ghulam Abbas Shiekh

Objectives: To determine the risk factors of depressive disorders and health related quality of life among adult patients of depression presenting at psychiatric OPD clinic of Aziz Fatima Hospital Faisalabad. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Psychiatric OPD clinic of Aziz Fatima Hospital Faisalabad Pakistan. Period: 1st August 2019 to 31st December 2019. Material & Method: 150 patients for the screening of depression Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) was used. For measuring health related quality of life World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-Brief) was used. Results: It was found that out of 150 patients with depressive disorder 104(69.3%) were female and 46(30.7%) were male patients. Findings of the study assessed that depressive disorder not only impacts on the patients' mood but it also impairs the individuals overall perception of their general health, physical health, psychological wellbeing, social relationship and also distorted perception of their surrounding psychosocial environment. Conclusion: Depressive disorder is common in patients visiting psychiatric OPD clinic and findings of study suggested that age, education level, socio-economic status, death of parent at early age, unemployment, workplace issues, parental separation, loss of partner and family history of depression are important demographic variables which plays the role of significant risk factor for depression and impairs the quality of life among depressive patients.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251944
Author(s):  
Kate Alford ◽  
Stephanie Daley ◽  
Sube Banerjee ◽  
Jaime H. Vera

Quality of life (QoL) is recognized as an essential end point in the disease management of chronic conditions such as HIV with calls to include good QoL as a ‘fourth 90’ in the 90-90-90 testing and treatment targets introduced by World Health Organization in 2016. Cognitive impairments impact a broad spectrum of experiences and are a common issue effecting people living with HIV (PLWH). Despite this, few studies have examined QoL in PLWH who also have a cognitive disorder. This study aimed to synthesize and describe what is known about QoL in those living with HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). A scoping review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted to identify how QoL has been investigated and measured in PLWH with HAND, and how PLWH with HAND report and describe their QoL. We searched PsychInfo, Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science along with hand-searching reference lists from relevant studies found. Included studies were those published in English after 1st January 2003 which included PLWH with cognitive impairment not due to other pre-existing conditions. Fifteen articles met criteria for inclusion. Two studies measured QoL as a primary aim, with others including QoL assessment as part of a broader battery of outcomes. The MOS-HIV and SF-36 were the most commonly used measures of overall QoL, with findings generally suggestive of poorer overall QoL in PLWH with HAND, compared to PLWH without cognitive impairment. Studies which examined dimensions of QoL focused exclusively on functionality, level of independence, and psychological QoL domains. There is a considerable dearth of research examining QoL in PLWH with HAND. The initiatives which advocate for healthy aging and improved QoL in PLWH must be extended to include and understand the experiences those also living with cognitive impairment. Research is needed to understand the broad experiential impacts of living with these two complex, chronic conditions, to ensure interventions are meaningful to patients and potential benefits are not missed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. A9
Author(s):  
Tami Borneman ◽  
Betty R. Ferrell ◽  
Marcia Grant ◽  
Mariana Koczywas ◽  
Mihaela Cristea

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (04) ◽  
pp. 616-622
Author(s):  
Tarannum Ahmed ◽  
Rajesh Kumar ◽  
Yogesh Bahurupi ◽  

Abstract Background Stroke is one of the most debilitating conditions contributing to significant disability and death globally. Identifying risk factors for quality of life (QoL) will enable to improve home-based rehabilitation in post-stroke phase. Objective This study was aimed to identify the risk factors of QoL in stroke patients in the sub-Himalayan region. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional hospital-based study assessed the QoL among stroke patients within a week after the onset of acute stroke and then re-evaluated at 3 months. World Health Organization QoL-BREF, Beck Depression Inventory, the Barthel Index, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) were used to seek data on QoL, depression, cognitive, and functional dependence status, respectively. Appropriate statistics were used to compute the results. Results In total, 129 stroke patients recruited, out of which 102 returned to a 3-month follow-up. QoL, MOCA, disability index, and depression score were compared using Wilcoxon Singed-rank test. In multivariate analysis, depression and disability together predicted 60% of the variance for physical QoL (p < 0.0001). Similarly, poststroke depression and disability together predicted 61% of the variance for psychological QoL (p < 0.0001) in stroke patients. Conclusion Findings indicated that depression and disability are leading risk factors of QoL in stroke patients. Early identification of poststroke depression and functional dependence status is, therefore, essential to devise screening procedure and to develop targeted intervention to improve rehabilitation outcomes.


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