Current Issue : April - June Volume : 2018 Issue Number : 2 Articles : 6 Articles
Background: The incidence of cancer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is increasing. Whilst meeting the growing\ndemand for health care services in oncology, organisations must ensure they provide high quality care. Despite patient\nsatisfaction being an important metric in assessing quality of care, there is a dearth of literature in this field in the KSA,\nparticularly in oncology hospital wards. The aim of this study was to examine how interpersonal aspects of care and\nsocio-cultural communication impact upon patient satisfaction in an oncology ward setting in the Saudi Regional Cancer\nCentre (SRCC), in Riyadh.\nMethods: A sequential, explanatory, mixed methods design was employed. This paper presents the findings of the\nqualitative phase of the research, when semi-structured telephone and face-to-face interviews were conducted with 22\nadult oncology inpatients admitted to the SRCC in Riyadh.\nFindings: Three primary themes emerged from the interview data: doctor-patient relationship, nurse-patient\nrelationship, and contextual factors of cancer in the KSA. The findings indicated that patient satisfaction levels were\nsignificantly influenced by the interpersonal aspects of care. Doctor-patient and nurse-patient relationships were deemed\ncore to patients� experiences, with person-centered, interpersonal skills being especially important. In addition, sociocultural\nissues such as language barriers and non-disclosure negatively impacted on levels of satisfaction. Attention to\nsuch factors is necessary to improve quality of care in oncology ward settings in the Kingdom. Improvements in care\narising from enhanced interpersonal skills of staff, contextualised against a backdrop of social and cultural factors, would\npositively influence patient satisfaction in the KSA.\nConclusion: This study has provided new evidence supporting the need for stronger interpersonal relations and a more\npatient-centred approach in the oncology health system in the KSA. This research will assist policy makers and hospital\nmanagement teams wanting to improve patient satisfaction in oncology wards in the KSA....
Background.With the aging population and a rising incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), there is\nan emerging need for developing strategies to treat elderly patients. Patients and Methods.We retrospectively analyzed 158 patients\ntreated with definitive, concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for SCCHN. Clinicopathological characteristics, acute toxicities, and\noncological outcomes were compared between patients younger and older than (or of age equal to) 65, 70, and 75 years. Results.\nRT dose, chemotherapy regimen, and total chemotherapy dose were balanced between the groups. After a median follow-up of\n29 months, overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), local control rate, and distant metastasis-free survival stratified\nby age of �65, �70, or �75 years revealed no differences. The rate of acute toxicities was also not higher for older patients. Worse\nECOG performance score (ECOG 2-3) was associated with impaired OS (...
Currently, the growing population of the elderly is one of biggest problems in terms of increase in geriatric diseases. Lack of data\nfromlarge prospective studies on geriatric breast cancer patients often makes it difficult for clinicians to make treatments decisions\nfor them. Because both benefit and risk of treatment should be taken into account, treatment is usually determined considering life\nexpectancy or comorbidities in elderly patients. Treatment of breast cancer is differentiated according to histologic classifications,\nand hormone therapy is even adopted for patients with metastatic breast cancer if tumor tissue expresses hormone receptors.\nEndocrine therapy can offer great benefit to elderly patients considering its equivalent efficacy to chemotherapywith fewer toxicities\nif it is appropriately used. Aromatase inhibitors are usually prescribed agents in hormone therapy for elderly breast cancer patients\ndue to their physiology after menopause. Here, endocrine therapy for elderly patients with breast cancer in neoadjuvant, adjuvant,\nand palliative setting is reviewed along with predictive adverse events resulting from the use of hormone agents....
Purpose. To evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of critically ill patients with testicular cancer (TC) admitted to an\noncological intensive care unit (ICU). Methods. This was a prospective observational study. There were no interventions. Results.\nDuring the study period, 1,402 patients with TC were admitted to the Department of Oncology, and 60 patients (4.3%) were\nadmitted to the ICU.Themost common histologic type was nonseminomatous germcell tumors (55/91.7%). The ICU, hospital, and\n6-month mortality rates were 38.3%, 45%, and 63.3%, respectively. The Cox multivariate analysis identified the white blood cells\ncount (HR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.01ââ?¬â??1.11, and ...
Aim: The aim of this study was to test the feasibility and fidelity of an intervention,\nMoving On, aimed to increase outcome expectations OEs (i.e. what one expects to\nobtain or avoid as a result of a behaviour) and exercise among breast cancer\nsurvivors.\nDesign: Randomized controlled trial\nMethods: Intervention arm participants will be given a theory-guided\nbooklet that was\nco-created\nby the research team and three physically active breast cancer survivors\nwho exercise to manage late and long-term\ntreatment effects. Attention control arm\nparticipants will be given a similar booklet focused on diet. Participants will have\n1 week to complete reading, writing and reflecting activities in the booklets. Study\noutcomes will be measured through online surveys; exercise will also be measured\nobjectively with a Fitbit�®. Four weeks postintervention, participantsâ�� thoughts about\nthe usefulness, strengths and weakness of the intervention booklet will be assessed.\nOEs and exercise will be measured at baseline, 4-,\n8-and\n12-week\npostintervention....
Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) consist of a major cause of morbidity and mortality among\npatients with hematologic malignancies, resulting in high length of stay and healthcare costs. The aim of this study\nwas to assess the HAIs rates in adult hematology-oncology patients.\nPatients and Methods: A prospective surveillance study was performed in a hematology-oncology unit in\nAthens, Greece. All patients who remained for â�¥ 48 hours were studied. A standardized surveillance system based\non the National Healthcare Safety Network of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was implemented.\nResults: During 1,156 patient-days, 16 of 85 patients acquired 20 HAIs resulting in an overall rate of 18.8% of\npatients or 17.3 HAIs per 1,000 patient-days. FUO rate was 42.5 per 1,000 patient-days with neutropenia. Most of\nHAIs was laboratory confirmed (80%) than clinically documented (20%). Central line-associated bloodstream\ninfection was the most commonly encountered type of infection, accounting for 25% of all HAIs, followed by soft\ntissue infections (20%). The rates of neutropenia, blood transfusion and presence of central venous catheter were\nsignificantly greater among patients with HAI, compared with patients without HAI (p<0.05). The crude mortality rate\nfor patients with and without HAI was 12.5% and 2.9%, respectively (p=0.234).The mean length of stay was\nstatistically longer for patients with HAI compared with patients without HAI (29.6 �± 28.5 vs. 9.8 �± 6.8 days,\np<0.001). Gram-negative bacteria were the most prevalent pathogens (73.3%).\nConclusions: Our findings highlight the problem of HAIs in hematology-oncology patients and emphasize the\nimportance of a comprehensive education program focused on evidence-based approaches for all healthcare\nworkers and continuing active surveillance program, which will contribute to reducing the consequences of HAIs and\nimproving patient safety....
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