OBJECTIVES: This study aims to examine the effect of 20-minute mindful breathing on the rapid reduction of dyspnea at rest in patients with lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma.
METHODS: We conducted a parallel-group, nonblinded, randomized controlled trial of standard care plus 20-minute mindful breathing vs. standard care alone for patients with moderate to severe dyspnea due to lung disease, named previously, at the respiratory unit of University Malaya Medical Centre in Malaysia, from August 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018.
RESULTS: Sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to standard care plus a 20-minute mindful breathing session (n = 32) or standard care alone (n = 31), with no difference in their demographic and clinical characteristics. There was statistically significant reduction in dyspnea in the mindful breathing group compared with the control group at minute 5 (U = 233.5, n1 = 32, n2 = 31, mean rank1 = 23.28, mean rank2 = 37.72, z = -3.574, P
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review is to assess the effectiveness of TCM as a treatment option for musculoskeletal symptoms in patients with breast cancer who were treated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs).
METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PubMed, the Cochrane Library, SAGE journals, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, Medline, Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), Wanfang, and Chinese Medical Journal Database (CMJ) from May 2020 to November 2020. The literature review included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of TCM for AI-related musculoskeletal symptoms.
RESULTS: Four RCTs incorporating TCM were assessed by meta-analysis and reported favorable effects in reducing worst pain score (n = 284, mean difference [MD]: 2.31; 95% CI, 1.74 to 2.88; P
AIMS: This study aimed to identify, appraise, and integrate the evidence for the experiences and preferences of Muslim patients and/or families for end-of-life care in Muslim-majority countries.
DESIGN: Systematic review.
DATA SOURCES: PsychINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and Registry of Clinical Trials, PubMed, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Social Policy & Practice, and Scopus were searched until December 2018. Handsearching was performed, and gray literature was included. Qualitative studies analyzed using thematic analysis and quantitative component provided triangulation.
RESULTS: The initial search yielded n = 5098 articles, of which n = 30 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 5342 participants (4345 patients; 81.3%) were included; 97.6% had advanced cancer. Most (n = 22) studies were quantitative. Three themes and subthemes from qualitative studies were identified using thematic analysis: selflessness (burden to others and caregiver responsibilities), ambivalence (hope and hopelessness), and strong beliefs in Islam (beliefs in death and afterlife and closeness to Allah). Qualitative studies reported triangulation; demonstrating conflicts in diagnosis disclosure and total pain burden experienced by both patients and families.
CONCLUSION: Despite the scarce evidence of relatively low quality, the analysis revealed core themes. To achieve palliative care for all in line with the total pain model, beliefs must be identified and understood in relation to decision-making processes and practices.
OBJECTIVES: To identify patient-related barriers to effective cancer pain management in a diverse multicultural developing country.
DESIGN: A cross-sectional survey study was carried out using Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form to measure effectiveness of pain management and Barriers Questionnaire II to explore patient-related barriers to effective pain management.
SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Patients on strong opioids treated in a comprehensive cancer unit of a public hospital in Sarawak, Malaysia.
RESULTS: Among 133 subjects surveyed, 66% reported no pain or mild pain, 34% moderate pain, and 10% severe pain. Despite good pain control, 71% of patients still reported moderate-to-severe interference with daily activities. Fatalism scored the highest median Barriers Questionnaire II score among the four domains of patient-related barriers followed by harmful effects, physiological effects, and communication factor.
CONCLUSION: Cancer pain is generally well controlled with more than half of patients reporting mild pain. However, degree of interference with daily activities is still high despite good cancer pain control. Fatalistic mentality need to be addressed for effective cancer pain management. Further studies on health care professional-related barriers and health system-related barriers are urgently needed to provide a comprehensive approach of holistic pain management.
OBJECTIVES: The current systematic review aims to synthesize existing feasibility studies on LRI among persons with cancer.
METHODS: A literature search was conducted from the databases PubMed, ScienceDirect, PsychArticles, Scopus, Psychology and Behavioral Science Collection, Cochrane, EBSCO, and other methods. Eligible articles were selected based on the predetermined inclusion criteria and data extraction revolved around the study design, intervention procedure, and feasibility and psychological outcome measures.
RESULTS: The search yielded 8,627 articles, to which respondents simultaneously receiving other forms of psychological interventions were excluded. Eight were selected for evaluation. Four were integrated interventions while the remaining were conducted with the standard intervention. The sample size range from 5 to 90 persons with cancer. All reviewed articles reported optimum feasibility, as presented by recruitment capability, participant retention rate, acceptability and satisfaction, intervention implementation, and evaluation of intervention outcome measures. However, a majority of psychological outcome measures indicated no statistical significance.
CONCLUSION: LRI is feasible to be implemented among persons with cancer, given the high acceptability and availability of resources for its implementation. The present review highlighted the preliminary knowledge on the feasibility of the intervention.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: An online survey coupled with manual follow up was conducted throughout all MOH hospitals in Malaysia. Data collected described elements of the palliative care service(PCS) based on the WHO public health model. Data was computed using a novel matrix to determine three key indices which were the 1) palliative care development score (PCDS), 2)essential medications availability score (EMAS) and 3) opioid availability score (OAS). These scores then allowed mapping of PCS according to scores of 1-4 (1=least developed, 4=most developed).
FINDINGS: Out of all 140 MOH hospitals 88.6% (124) completed the PCDS survey, 120(85.7%) for the EMAS survey and 140 (100%) for the OAS survey. A total of 32(25.8%) hospitals had formal PCS with 8(25%) having resident palliative physicians (RPP), 8(25%) visiting palliative physicians(VPP) and 16(50%) no palliative physician (NPP). Out of these services, 17 (53%) had dedicated palliative care beds. In the PCDS survey, hospitals with PCS had significantly higher mean PCDS of 2.59 compared to 1.02 for non-PCS hospitals (P<0.001). The EMAS survey showed 109(90.8%) hospitals had EMAS of four and the OAS survey showed that 135(96.4%) hospitals had oral morphine available.
CONCLUSION: This study shows that palliative care service development in MOH hospitals is still very limited however, majority of MOH hospitals in Malaysia have all the essential medications and oral morphine available.