scholarly journals The Impact of Integrating the Palliative Prognostic Index into Palliative Consultation on Patients with Haematologic Malignancies: A Case control study

Author(s):  
Yueh-Shih Chang ◽  
Hui-Chen Lee ◽  
Yen-Min Huang ◽  
Cheng-Hsu Wang ◽  
Chien-Hong Lai

Abstract Background The study aims to investigate the influence of integrating the Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) into the consultation system for patients with haematologic malignancies. Methods We retrospectively enrolled 53 patients with haematologic malignancies. The PPI was evaluated at the first palliative consultation. Patients were divided into two groups: before the use of the PPI (23 patients) and after the use of the PPI (30 patients). Results We first confirmed that the life expectancy for patients with haematologic malignancies was correlated with the PPI score ranking (p < 0.01). For patients with a PPI score > 6, agreement to attend hospice care was significantly higher (p = 0.01). After the use of the PPI, the mean survival time from the first consultation to death was 131.4 ± 55.9 days, which was significantly longer than before the use of the PPI (p < 0.01). Meanwhile, more leukaemia patients received palliative consultation and fewer antibiotics in their end of life care. Although there was no difference in agreement for hospice care after the first consultation, we believed that the concept of palliative care had been delivered to patients and their families. Conclusions The PPI score is a good prognostic index for patients with haematologic malignancies. The use of the PPI score in the first consultation enables patients, families and haematologists to become aware of the necessity of palliative care.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhu Wei Lim ◽  
Chung-Ching Wang ◽  
Wei-Te Wu ◽  
Wei-liang Chen

Abstract Background: The change of employment status in cancer survivors is underinvestigated. The aim of this study is to investigate the change in employment status in survivors with occupational cancers at the time of diagnosis until 2 years. Methods: In this study, we included 382 occupational cancer workers. In these 382 workers, 218 workers were insured. Ninety-nine occupational cancer workers in 2004-2015 were included for the change of employment status and salary buckets. The confirmation of change of employment status was retrieved in the Labor Insurance Database’s employment data. Results: The mean age of cancer workers were 51.38 ± 9.1119 years old and the average salary of industry of NTD 30511.6 ± 3980.6. In our results, most cancer survivors are in 46-55-year-old group (40.7%). Salary adjustment are the most change in the employment status in cancer survivors. Conclusion: Change of employment status in cancer survivors are important to decrease the impact of economic burden on society.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 101-101
Author(s):  
Nina J. Karlin ◽  
Heidi Kosiorek ◽  
Patricia M. Verona ◽  
Shailja Amin ◽  
Curtiss B. Cook

101 Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been associated with an increased risk of mortality among patients with many types of cancers. The aim of this case-control study was to determine the impact of DM on short-term overall survival in prostate cancer patients, and to examine the impact of prostate cancer on glycemic control in DM. Methods: 276 patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer from 2007-2014 with DM were identified from the Institutional Cancer Registry and matched to 276 prostate cancer patients without DM according to age and year of prostate cancer diagnosis. The file was linked to the electronic medical record to obtain information on DM and cancer therapies, and laboratory results. Results: The mean age of the entire prostate cancer cohort was 72 years, most (93%) were white, the most common Gleason score (in 52%) was 7, and the majority (56%) were tumor stage 2. No differences in age, race/ethnicity, Gleason score, or tumor stage were detected between patients with and without DM, although DM patients had higher body mass index (P = .031). Among those with DM the mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was 6.7%. In Kaplan-Meier survival analysis (median follow-up time of 43.7 months), 5-year overall survival was estimated at 88% for DM patients versus 93% in non-DM patients. Hazard ratio (for matched pairs) was 1.64 (95% CI: 0.77-3.46, P = .20). Moreover, mean HbA1c and glucose values among DM cases did not significantly change over 1 year (P ≥ .13). Mean glucose among DM patients was significantly (p < 0.01) higher compared to non-DM patients. Conclusions: DM did not adversely impact survival in prostate cancer patients. In addition, prostate cancer or its treatment does not appear to affect glycemic control. Both patients and their providers can be reassured that the two concurrent diagnoses do not adversely interact to worsen short term outcomes.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249763
Author(s):  
P. Stone ◽  
V. Vickerstaff ◽  
A. Kalpakidou ◽  
C. Todd ◽  
J. Griffiths ◽  
...  

Purpose The Palliative Prognostic (PaP) score; Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI); Feliu Prognostic Nomogram (FPN) and Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) have all been proposed as prognostic tools for palliative cancer care. However, clinical judgement remains the principal way by which palliative care professionals determine prognoses and it is important that the performance of prognostic tools is compared against clinical predictions of survival (CPS). Methods This was a multi-centre, cohort validation study of prognostic tools. Study participants were adults with advanced cancer receiving palliative care, with or without capacity to consent. Key prognostic data were collected at baseline, shortly after referral to palliative care services. CPS were obtained independently from a doctor and a nurse. Results Prognostic data were collected on 1833 participants. All prognostic tools showed acceptable discrimination and calibration, but none showed superiority to CPS. Both PaP and CPS were equally able to accurately categorise patients according to their risk of dying within 30 days. There was no difference in performance between CPS and FPN at stratifying patients according to their risk of dying at 15, 30 or 60 days. PPI was significantly (p<0.001) worse than CPS at predicting which patients would survive for 3 or 6 weeks. PPS and CPS were both able to discriminate palliative care patients into multiple iso-prognostic groups. Conclusions Although four commonly used prognostic algorithms for palliative care generally showed good discrimination and calibration, none of them demonstrated superiority to CPS. Prognostic tools which are less accurate than CPS are of no clinical use. However, prognostic tools which perform similarly to CPS may have other advantages to recommend them for use in clinical practice (e.g. being more objective, more reproducible, acting as a second opinion or as an educational tool). Future studies should therefore assess the impact of prognostic tools on clinical practice and decision-making.


Author(s):  
J. Santoantonio ◽  
L. Yazigi ◽  
E. I. Sato

The purpose of this study was to investigate the personality characteristics in adolescents with SLE. The research design is a case-control study by means of the Rorschach Method and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Study group: 30 female adolescents with lupus, 12–17 years of age. The SLE Disease Activity Index was administered during the period of psychological evaluation. Control group: 32 nonpatient adolescents were matched for age, sex, and socioeconomic level. In the Wechsler Intelligence Scale the mean IQ of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (77 and 98, respectively, p < .001). In the Rorschach, the lupus patients showed greater difficulty in interpersonal interactions, although they displayed the resources to process affect and to cope with stressful situations. A positive moderate correlation (p = .069) between the activity index of the disease and the affect constriction proportion of the Rorschach was observed: the higher the SLEDAI score, the lower the capacity to process affect. There is a negative correlation between the activity index of the disease and the IQ (p = .001): with a higher activity index of the disease, less intellectual resources are available.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 2396-2401
Author(s):  
Costin Berceanu ◽  
Elena Loredana Ciurea ◽  
Monica Mihaela Cirstoiu ◽  
Sabina Berceanu ◽  
Anca Maria Ofiteru ◽  
...  

It is widely accepted that thrombophilia in pregnancy greatly increases the risk of venous thromboembolism. Pregnancy complications arise, at least partly, from placental insufficiency. Any change in the functioning of the gestational transient biological system, such as inherited or acquired thrombophilia, might lead to placental insufficiency. In this research we included 64 pregnant women with trombophilia and 70 cases non-trombophilic pregnant women, with or without PMPC, over a two-year period. The purpose of this multicenter case-control study is to analyze the maternal-fetal management options in obstetric thrombophilia, the impact of this pathology on the placental structure and possible correlations with placenta-mediated pregnancy complications. Maternal-fetal management in obstetric thrombophilia means preconceptional or early diagnosis, prevention of pregnancy morbidity, specific therapy as quickly as possible and fetal systematic surveilance to identify the possible occurrence of placenta-mediated pregnancy complications.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-78
Author(s):  
Mohammadali Nazarinia ◽  
Asghar Zare ◽  
Mohammad javad Fallahi ◽  
Mesbah Shams

Background:Systemic sclerosis is a disorder of connective tissue with unknown cause, affecting the skin and internal organs, characterized by fibrotic changes.Objective:To determine the correlation between serum homocysteine level and interstitial lung involvement in systemic sclerosis. </P><P> Materials and Methods: In this case – control study, 59 patients who fulfilled the ACR/EULAR classification criteria for systemic sclerosis and were referred to Hafez Hospital of Shiraz, Iran, were included as the case group. Fifty nine healthy subjects were involved as the control group. Patients were divided into two groups based on interstitial lung involvement and two subtypes, diffuse and limited type. Serum homocysteine, vitamin B12, and folate levels compared between the controls, and cases groups.Results:Of 59 case and control group, 53 (%89.8) were female and the mean age did not differ in both groups (P=0.929). Thirty five (%59.3) patients had interstitial lung involvement and 38(%64.4) had diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis. The mean serum homocysteine level was 13.9±6.3 µmol/L in the case and 13.7±9.2 µmol/L in the control group (P=0.86). The mean serum homocysteine level did not differ between the patients with and without interstitial lung involvement (P=0.52). The patients with lung involvement was older than those without lung involvement (P=0.004). Lung disease was more common in diffuse type (P=0.014).Conclusion:In our study, serum homocysteine level did not differ between the patients and healthy subjects. Also, there was no correlation between serum homocysteine level and lung involvement, but lung involvement was more common in older patients and also diffuse subtype.


2021 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Wang ◽  
Mian Wang ◽  
Zihao Li ◽  
Xinyin Wu ◽  
Xian Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the impact of polymorphism of PD-1 gene and its interaction with tea drinking on susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB). A total of 503 patients with TB and 494 controls were enrolled in this case–control study. Three single-nucleotide polymorphisms of PD-1 (rs7568402, rs2227982 and rs36084323) were genotyped and unconditional logistic regression analysis was used to identify the association between PD-1 polymorphism and TB, while marginal structural linear odds models were used to estimate the interactions. Genotypes GA (OR 1.434), AA (OR 1.891) and GA + AA (OR 1.493) at rs7568402 were more prevalent in the TB patients than in the controls (P < 0.05). The relative excess risk of interaction (RERI) between rs7568402 of PD-1 genes and tea drinking was −0.3856 (95% confidence interval −0.7920 to −0.0209, P < 0.05), which showed a negative interaction. However, the RERIs between tea drinking and both rs2227982 and rs36084323 of PD-1 genes were not statistically significant. Our data demonstrate that rs7568402 of PD-1 genes was associated with susceptibility to TB, and there was a significant negative interaction between rs7568402 and tea drinking. Therefore, preventive measures through promoting the consumption of tea should be emphasised in the high-risk populations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thang Nguyen-Tien ◽  
Duy Cuong Do ◽  
Xuan Luat Le ◽  
Thi Hai Dinh ◽  
Mats Lindeborg ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Dengue is a mosquito-borne flavivirus present in many metropolitan cities of tropical countries. Methods During and after the dengue season (September 2018 to January 2019), we conducted a case-control study in order to determine the risk factors for dengue fever in Hanoi city, Vietnam. 98 dengue patients and 99 patients with other acute infections, such as Hepatitis B virus infection, were recruited at Department of Infectious Disease of Bach Mai national hospital in Hanoi. Patients were interviewed using a structured questionnaire covering demographic, housing, environmental factors and knowledge, attitude, and practice on dengue prevention and control. Univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression were used to determine the risk factors of dengue status. Results The mean score of knowledge items and practice items was only 7.9 out of total 19 points and 3.9 out of total 17 points, respectively. While the mean score of attitude items was 4.8 out of total 6 points. Multivariable logistic regression indicated that older patients had lesser risk of getting dengue infection as compared to younger adults aged 16–30, and patients living in peri-urban districts were less likely to suffer of dengue fever than patients living in central urban districts (OR = 0.31; 95% CI 0.13–0.75). This study could not find any association with occupation, water storage habit, knowledge, attitude, or practice on dengue prevention. Conclusions All patients had a relatively low level of knowledge and practice on dengue prevention and control. However, the attitude of the participants was good. We found that age group and living district were the risk factors correlated with the dengue status. Communication programs on raising dengue awareness should be repeated all year round and target particular groups of adolescents, younger adults, landlords and migrants from other provinces to improve their knowledge and encourage them to implement preventive measures against dengue fever.


Cytokine ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 155431
Author(s):  
Atakan Tanacan ◽  
Nuray Yazihan ◽  
Seyit Ahmet Erol ◽  
Ali Taner Anuk ◽  
Fatma Didem Yucel Yetiskin ◽  
...  

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