Clinicians' Perspectives on Managing Symptom Clusters in Advanced Cancer: A Semistructured Interview Study

Barriers and Facilitators for Implementing Interventions for Treating Patients With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Qualitative Scoping Review Using the Theoretical Domains Framework

BACKGROUND

Chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain poses a significant societal burden, yet many evidence-based interventions fail to reach clinical practice, highlighting an implementation gap. This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators in implementing MSK pain interventions across healthcare settings.

METHODS

We conducted a scoping review following the Joanna Briggs Institute approach. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PubMed and PsycINFO (up to December 2023) for peer-reviewed qualitative studies exploring the perspectives of patients (18+) and healthcare professionals (HCPs) on implementing MSK pain interventions. Studies were screened independently by two authors, and data were analysed using the General Inductive Approach and mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF).

RESULTS

From 18,220 records, 22 studies were included, involving 307 HCPs and 76 patients across all healthcare sectors. Six major themes emerged: (1) long way from usual care, (2) trust and commitment, (3) support, (4) time and finance, (5) knowledge and skills and (6) patient preferences. The most frequently reported TDF domain was 'Environmental Context and Resources', with key barriers including time constraints, low reimbursement, and insufficient support. Facilitators included leadership, communication, and social networks.

CONCLUSION

Implementation of MSK pain interventions is hindered by systemic barriers at individual, organisational, and political levels. Addressing these barriers through targeted strategies is essential for improving sustainable clinical implementation and enhancing patient care.

Discovering needs for palliative care in children with cancer in Indonesia

BACKGROUND

Although most children with cancer die in low- and middle-income countries, palliative care receives limited attention in these settings. This study explores parents' perspectives on experiences and needs of children dying from cancer.

METHODS

Home visits were conducted to interview parents of children, who were treated for cancer at an Indonesian academic hospital and died between 2019 and 2020, using semi-structured questionnaires.

RESULTS

Parents of 49 children (response rate 74%) were interviewed. While all children died in hospital, 37% of parents stated their child preferred to die at home. The most common symptoms during final illness were breathing difficulties (82%), pain (80%), and appetite loss (80%). Psychological symptoms received the least support from the medical team. No intervention was given to 46% of children with depression, 45% of children with anxiety, and 33% with sadness. Boys suffered more often from anxiety (68%) than girls (37%; p = .030). Parents (57%) were not always informed about their child's condition, and doctors gave confusing information (43%). The families' choice of treatment while dying was relieving pain or discomfort (39%) and extending life (33%), while for 29% it was unknown. However, many parents (51%) did not discuss these treatment wishes with doctors. Many children (45%) felt lonely wanting more interactions with school (71%), friends (63%), and family (57%).

CONCLUSION

Relieving suffering of children with cancer requires regular physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs assessment. Families should actively participate in deciding whether to extend life or relieve pain and discomfort. This can importantly improve the quality of life of children and families.

Framework for Considering Primary and Subspecialty Palliative Care and Guiding Serious Illness Communication for Patients With Breast Cancer

Palliative care is a comprehensive approach aimed at enhancing the quality of life of patients and their families living with serious illnesses such as breast cancer. This approach includes assessing and managing pain and other physical symptoms, attending to psychosocial and spiritual aspects of care, fostering effective communication and decision making, and providing support in coordinating care that upholds a person's values and preferences from the time of diagnosis throughout the illness trajectory. This type of care can be provided by palliative care specialists (ideally an interprofessional team) working alongside the oncology team, referred to as subspecialty palliative care. Conversely, the fundamental aspects of this approach, which we sometimes call primary palliative care, are provided by all clinicians caring for patients with breast cancer. Given that access to subspecialty palliative care can vary globally, especially in rural and resource-constrained settings, it is imperative for all oncology clinicians to receive training in the core components of palliative care. This study aims to provide a basic framework to recognize what the core primary palliative care skills are in routine oncology practice, to delineate basic serious illness communication strategies, and to introduce when to consider the integration of subspecialty palliative care into the care of patients with breast cancer.

Palliative Care Within the Primary Health Care Setting in Australia: A Scoping Review

Objectives: This scoping review identifies and details the scope of practice of health professionals who provide palliative care within the primary health setting in Australia. Methods: A scoping review approach was conducted on the Cinahl (Ebsco), Scopus, Medline (Ovid) and PubMed databases to extract articles from 1 December 2015 to 1 December 2020. Broad text words and MeSH headings were used with relevance to palliative care, general practice, primary health, and community setting. Extracted journal articles were limited to those based on the Australian population or Australian health system. Results: Eighty-four papers met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The review identified the following health professional roles within the Primary Health Care setting undertaking palliative care: General Practitioner, Nurse, Pharmacist, Paramedics, Carers, and Allied Health professionals. Conclusion: This review offers a first understanding of the individual health professional roles and multidisciplinary team approach to actively providing palliative care within the Primary Health Care setting in Australia.

"Made Me Realize That Life Is Worth Living": A Qualitative Study of Patient Perceptions of a Primary Palliative Care Intervention

Background: Primary palliative care is needed to meet the complex needs of patients with serious illness and their families. However, patient perceptions of primary palliative care are not well understood and can inform subsequent primary palliative care interventions and implementation. Objective: Elicit the patient perspective on a primary palliative care intervention, Collaborative Care to Alleviate Symptoms and Adjust to Illness (CASA), from patient perspectives. Design: Qualitative study using patient interviews and two methods of triangulation. Setting/Subjects: Between July 2014 and September 2015, we interviewed 45 patients who participated in the intervention in a Veterans Affairs (VA) (primary site), academic, and urban safety-net health system in the United States. Main Measures: Participants were asked about what was most and least helpful, how the intervention affected participants' lives, and what should be changed about the intervention. Data were analyzed using a general inductive approach. To enhance validity of the results, we triangulated the findings from patient interviews, reviews of care coordinator documentation, and interprofessional palliative care providers. Results: The six themes identified that primary care intervention: (1) Cared for My Psychosocial Needs, (2) Encouraged Self-Management, (3) Medication Recommendations Worked, (4) Facilitated Goal Attainment, (5) Team was Beneficial, and (6) Good Visit Timing. Conclusions: Participants experienced benefits from the primary palliative care intervention and attributed these benefits to individualized assessment and support, facilitation of skill building and self-management, and oversight from an interprofessional care team. Future primary palliative care interventions may benefit from targeting these specific patient-valued processes.

Appetite-Related Distress Is Burdensome in the Last Sixty Days of Life of People Receiving Palliative Care: A National Longitudinal Consecutive Cohort Study

Background: People with life-limiting illnesses experience a range of distressing symptoms. Appetite-related symptoms are common, but studies have found varied prevalence and the distress caused has had limited quantification. Objectives: To examine the clinicodemographic factors and trajectory of appetite-related distress in the last 60 days of life. Design/Setting/Subjects: Consecutive cohort of 109,385 patients (359,038 data points) using specialist palliative care services in the Australian Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC). Measurements: Patient-reported appetite-related distress using the PCOC Symptom Assessment Scale. Results: Diagnoses included cancer (75%), end-stage organ failure (11%), neurodegenerative disease (4%), dementia (3%), and other noncancer (7%). Fifty-eight percent reported some degree of appetite-related distress at least once in the last 60 days of life. Daily mean distress scores did not vary greatly by diagnosis and the distributions of symptom severity were not linked with performance status. There was a sharp decline in mean distress for all diagnostic groups around 7-10 days before death. Moderate to severe distress was associated with nausea-, bowel-, pain-, and breathing-related distress, controlling for key baseline factors. Conclusion: Appetite-related distress is prevalent and burdensome in the 60 days before death and is strongly associated with distress from other cardinal symptoms.

Pain, fatigue and depression symptom cluster in survivors of prostate cancer

PURPOSE

Pain, fatigue and depression are common sequelae of a cancer diagnosis. The extent to which these occur together in prostate cancer survivors is unknown. We (i) investigated prevalence of the pain-fatigue-depression symptom cluster and (ii) identified factors associated with experiencing the symptom cluster among prostate cancer survivors.

METHODS

Men in Ireland diagnosed with prostate cancer 2-18 years previously were identified from population-based cancer registries and sent postal questionnaires. Cancer-related pain and fatigue were measured using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and depression using the DASS-21. Cut-offs to define 'caseness' were pain ≥ 25, fatigue ≥ 39 and depression ≥ 10. Associations between survivor-related factors, clinical variables and specific prostate cancer physical symptoms and the symptom cluster were assessed using multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

A total of 3348 men participated (response rate = 54%). Twenty-four percent had clinically significant pain, 19.7% had clinically significant fatigue, and 14.4% had depression; 7.3% had all three symptoms. In multivariate analysis, factors significantly associated with the symptom cluster were living in Northern Ireland, experiencing back pain at diagnosis and being affected by incontinence, loss of sexual desire, bowel problems, gynecomastia and hot flashes post-treatment. There was a strong association between the cluster and health-related quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

The pain-fatigue-depression symptom cluster is present in 1 in 13 prostate cancer survivors. Physical after-effects of prostate cancer treatment are associated with this cluster. More attention should be paid to identifying and supporting survivors who experience multiple symptoms; this may help health-related quality of life improve among the growing population of prostate cancer survivors.

Priority Symptoms, Causes, and Self-Management Strategies Reported by AYAs With Cancer

CONTEXT

Cancer and symptom experiences of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer can be highly variable, creating challenges for clinicians and researchers who seek to optimize AYAs' health outcomes. Understanding the heuristics AYAs use to designate priority symptoms can provide insight into the meaning they assign to their symptoms and self-management behaviors.

OBJECTIVES

This study described the frequency and characteristics of priority symptoms. It qualitatively explored reasons for a symptom's designation as a priority symptom, perceived causes of priority symptoms, and strategies AYAs use to manage priority symptoms.

METHODS

Participants in this single-group, longitudinal study reported symptoms using a heuristics-based symptom reporting tool, the Computerized Symptom Capture Tool, at two scheduled visits for chemotherapy. AYAs designated priority symptoms and responded to three short answer questions: What makes this a priority symptom?, What do you think causes it?, and What do you do to make it better?

RESULTS

Eighty-six AYAs, 15-29 years of age (median 19 years), identified 189 priority symptoms. Priority symptoms were of greater severity (t = 3.43; P < 0.01) and distress (t = 4.02; P < 0.01) compared with nonpriority symptoms. Lack of energy, nausea, difficulty sleeping, and pain comprised 39% of priority symptoms. Reasons for priority designation included the impact of the symptom and the attributes of the symptom. Categories of self-management strategies included "Physical Care Strategies," "Things I take (or not)," and "Psychosocial Care Strategies."

CONCLUSION

Supporting AYAs to identify their priority symptoms may facilitate a more personalized approach to care. Seeking the patient's perspective regarding priority symptoms could enhance patient-clinician collaboration in symptom management.

Factors Affecting the Levels of Satisfaction With Nurse-Patient Communication Among Oncology Patients

BACKGROUND

Nurse-patient communication is of the utmost importance to oncology patients.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors influencing the level of satisfaction with nurse-patient communication among oncology patients during their daily routine procedures.

METHODS

In this observational study, 25 registered nurses and 94 patients were recruited from an oncology unit. The patients were asked to complete a concern checklist before and after each admission, administration of medication, and wound-dressing procedure. Nonverbal cues expressed by the nurses and patients were noted on the checklist during these nursing procedures.

RESULTS

The results showed that patients at stage 3 cancer and patients receiving admission procedures were significantly more satisfied with their communication with nurses compared with those who were more concerned about the impact of the disease on self-care.

CONCLUSIONS

Cancer stage, time of admission, and psychological concern related to self-care ability are the potential factors affecting the satisfaction level of nurse-patient communication.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING

Emphasis could be placed on utilizing the time of admission to interact with patients in a busy environment to strive for better communication with oncology patients. The results underscore the importance of applying the self-care enhancement approach for hospitalized cancer patients.

Misery Loves Company: Presenting Symptom Clusters to Urgent Care by Patients Receiving Antineoplastic Therapy

PURPOSE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) identifies suboptimal management of treatment toxicities as a care gap and proposes the measurement of hospital performance on the basis of emergency department visits for 10 common symptoms. Current management strategies do not address symptom co-occurrence.

METHODS

We evaluated symptom co-occurrence in three patient cohorts that presented to a cancer hospital urgent care center in 2016. We examined both the CMS-identified symptoms and an expanded clinician-identified set defined as symptoms that could be safely managed in the outpatient setting if identified early and managed proactively. The cohorts included patients who presented with a CMS-defined symptom within 30 days of treatment, patients who presented within 30 days of treatment with a symptom from the expanded set, and patients who presented with a symptom from the expanded set within 30 days of treatment start. Symptom co-occurrence was measured by Jaccard index. A community detection algorithm was used to identify symptom clusters on the basis of a random walk process, and network visualizations were used to illustrate symptom dynamics.

RESULTS

There were 6,429 presentations in the CMS symptom-defined cohort. The network analysis identified two distinct symptom clusters centered around pain and fever. In the expanded symptom cohort, there were 5,731 visits and six symptom clusters centered around fever, emesis/nausea, fatigue, deep vein thrombosis, pain, and ascites. For patients who newly initiated treatment, there were 1,154 visits and four symptom clusters centered around fever, nausea/emesis, fatigue, and deep vein thrombosis.

CONCLUSION

Uncontrolled symptoms are associated with unplanned acute care. Recognition of the complexity of symptom co-occurrence can drive improved management strategies.

Patients' perceptions of their experiences with nurse-patient communication in oncology settings: A focused ethnographic study

Background

The nursing shortage and its impact on patient care are well-documented global issues. Patients living with cancer as a chronic illness have many psychosocial problems and often lack adequate support as a result of ineffective nurse-patient communication. A review of the literature on factors influencing the delivery of psychosocial care to cancer patients indicates that the delivery of psychosocial care in routine cancer nursing within a biomedical healthcare system has not been widely explored.

Objective

To explore patients’ perceptions of their experiences with nurse-patient communication in an oncological clinical environment.

Method

A focused ethnographic study was undertaken in two oncology wards of a hospital in Hong Kong. Data were collected through observations of the ward environment, the activities and instances of nurse-patient communication, semi-structured interviews with patients, and a review of nursing documents.

Results

Two main themes were identified: 1. Nurses’ workload and the environment and 2. Nurse-patient partnership and role expectations. Within these two themes were related subthemes on: Sympathy for the busy nurses; Prioritizing calls to the nurses; Partnership through relationship; Nurses’ role in psychosocial care; and Reduction of psychosocial concerns through physical care.

Conclusions

Many cancer patients do not expect to receive psychosocial care in the form of emotional talks or counseling from busy nurses, but appreciate the attention paid by nurses to their physiological and physical needs. Nurse-patient partnerships in cancer care may reduce the potential workload of nurses. The psychosocial needs of cancer patients could be optimized by providing good physical care through effective communication within a time-constrained oncology setting.

Predictors of outpatients' request for palliative care service at a medical oncology clinic of a German comprehensive cancer center

PURPOSE

Early integration of palliative care (PC) is recommended. The determination of predictors for patients' request for PC may guide implementation in clinical practice. Toward this end, we analyzed the symptom burden and distress of cancer patients in outpatient care and examined their need and request for PC.

METHODS

Between October 2013 and March 2016, 705 patients receiving outpatient cancer treatment took part in the survey. We used the new MInimal DOcumentation System to detect symptom clusters. Additionally, patients' request for palliative and psychosocial support was assessed. Groups of patients with PC request were compared to patients without PC request regarding their symptom clusters. Logistic regression analysis was applied to discover significant predictors for the requested inclusion of PC.

RESULTS

A total of 159 patients (25.5%) requested additional support by PC. Moderate and severe tiredness (40.3%), weakness (37.9%), pain (25.0%), loss of appetite (22.3%), and dyspnea (19.1%) were the most frequent symptoms. The group of patients requesting PC differed significantly in terms of pain, nausea, dyspnea, constipation, weakness, loss of appetite, tiredness, depression, and anxiety from patients without request for PC (p < .01). The perceived need for PC was identified by the significant predictors "depression," "anxiety," and "weakness" with an explained variance of 22%.

CONCLUSION

Combining a standardized screening questionnaire and the assessment of patients' request for PC allows systematic monitoring for patients' need for PC in a large Medical Oncology clinic. Depression, anxiety, and weakness are predictors of requesting PC service by patients receiving outpatient cancer treatment.

Los grupos de síntomas en personas con cáncer: una revisión integrativa

Objetivo: explorar el estado actual de desarrollo investigativo del área temática de grupos de síntomas en adultos con cáncer. Método: revisión integrativa de producción científica generada entre 2001 y 2016. Se incluyeron 61 artículos por su aporte en la comprensión del área temática. Resultados: el estudio de los grupos de síntomas en personas con cáncer se consolida como un área temática novedosa, pertinente y necesaria para la investigación y práctica de enfermería en oncología, con tendencias y retos que incluyen: (1) El desarrollo de marcos conceptuales que aporten a la fundamentación, atributos y efectos (2) La determinación de métodos y formas de crearlos y clasificarlos (3) La generación de estudios con poblaciones específicas por tipos de cáncer y tratamiento y la consolidación de intervenciones de enfermería. Conclusiones: los pacientes con cáncer experimentan múltiples síntomas de forma simultánea durante las distintas fases de la enfermedad. Es incipiente el estudio de este fenómeno, los retos para la enfermería se centran en la generación de respuestas que alivien la carga de los grupos de síntomas y mejoren la calidad de vida de estos pacientes. Es necesario validar escalas de carga del síntoma y explorar los grupos de síntomas incluyendo variables clínicas ligadas a los tratamientos oncológicos.