OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of heat-sensitive moxibustion on the quality of life in the elderly patients with malignant tumor based on palliative treatment. METHODS: A total of 100 elderly patients with malignant tumor were randomly divided into an observation group (50 cases, 3 cases dropped out) and a control group (50 cases, 4 cases dropped out). The conventional palliative treatment was performed in the control group. On the basis of conventional palliative treatment, heat-sensitive moxibustion was added at Shenque (CV8) and Zhongwan (CV12) in the observation group, once a day, 5 times a week, one course of treatment was composed of 2 weeks, and 2 consecutive courses of treatment were given. In the observation group, 15 patients voluntarily continued heat-sensitive moxibustion treatment, which was collected in the sub-observation group No.1, these patients were treated 3 times a week and for 6 months consecutively. Using the propensity score matching method, 15 patients who only completed 2 courses of treatment were assigned into the sub-observation group No.2. Before and after treatment, the scores of European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), the Karnofsky performance status (KPS), and the anorexia/cachexia subscale-12 (A/CS-12), as well as the immune indexes (the contents of serum immune globulin [Ig]G, IgA, IgM and complements C3 and C4) were observed in the patients of the observation group and the control group. The monthly survivals were recorded in the two sub-observation groups after 6 months of treatment completion. The coordination was analyzed on the score of deqi scale of heat-sensitive moxibustion at the probing stage before treatment and the change in the score of EORTC QLQ-C30 before and after treatment in the patients of the observation group. RESULTS: After treatment, except the score related to the financial difficulties, the score of every items in EORTC QLQ-C30 was greater than that before treatment in the observation group (P<0.05); the scores for overall health, nausea/vomiting, pain, short breath, constipation and diarrhea of the scale were higher than those before treatment in the control group (P<0.05). The score for each item of the scale in the observation group was higher when compared with that in the control group, except the score for financial difficulties (P<0.05). After treatment, KPS score increased in the observation group when compared with that before treatment (P<0.05), and the score was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, A/CS-12 score was elevated in comparison with that before treatment in each group (P<0.05), and the score in the observation group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, in the observation group, the contents of serum IgG, IgA and IgM, and C3 and C4 increased in comparison with those before treatment (P<0.05); and in the control group, the contents of serum IgG, C3 and C4 were declined (P<0.05). After treatment, the contents of serum IgG, IgA and IgM, and C3 and C4 in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). After 6 months of treatment completion, the survival rate in the sub-observation group No.1 was higher than that of the sub-observation group No.2 (P<0.05). In the observation group, the positive coordination was presented between the score of deqi scale of heat-sensitive moxibustion and the change in the score of EORTC QLQ-C30 in the observation group (r>0, P<0.001). CONCLUSION On the basis of palliative treatment, heat-sensitive moxibustion can improve the quality of life, appetite and the immunity of the elderly patients with malignant tumor. Consecutive long-term moxibustion is contributed to prolonging the life span. The stronger deqi is felt during moxibustion delivery, the more significant the therapeutic effect is obtained.
Humans ; Moxibustion ; Male ; Female ; Aged ; Quality of Life ; Neoplasms/psychology* ; Palliative Care ; Aged, 80 and over ; Middle Aged ; Acupuncture Points

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Patients with glioma experience a high symptom burden and have diverse palliative care needs. However, the assessment scales used in palliative care remain non-standardized and highly heterogeneous. To evaluate the application patterns of the current scales used in palliative care for glioma, we aim to identify gaps and assess the need for disease-specific scales in glioma palliative care. METHODS: We conducted a systematic search of five databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, EMBASE, and CINAHL for quantitative studies that reported scale-based assessments in glioma palliative care. We extracted data on scale characteristics, domains, frequency, and psychometric properties. Quality assessments were performed using the Cochrane ROB 2.0 and ROBINS-I tools. RESULTS: Of the 3,405 records initially identified, 72 studies were included. These studies contained 75 distinct scales that were used 193 times. Mood (21.7%), quality of life (24.4%), and supportive care needs (5.2%) assessments were the most frequently assessed items, exceeding half of all scale applications. Among the various assessment dimensions, the Distress Thermometer (DT) was the most frequently used tool for assessing mood, while the Short Form-36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) was the most frequently used tool for assessing quality of life. The Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) was the most common tool for cognitive assessment. Performance status (5.2%) and social support (6.8%) were underrepresented. Only three brain tumor-specific scales were identified. Caregiver-focused scales were limited and predominantly burden-oriented. CONCLUSIONS: There are significant heterogeneity, domain imbalances, and validation gaps in the current use of assessment scales for patients with glioma receiving palliative care. The scale selected for use should be comprehensive and user-friendly.
Humans ; Glioma/psychology* ; Palliative Care/methods* ; Quality of Life ; Psychometrics ; Brain Neoplasms/psychology*

Since end-stage renal disease leads to a variety of problems such as disability,reduced quality of life,and mental and psychological disorders,it has become a serious public health problem around the globe.Renal palliative care integrates palliative care philosophy in the care for patients with end-stage renal disease.As a planned,comprehensive,patient-centered care,renal palliative care focuses on the patient's symptoms and needs,aiming to reduce the suffering throughout the course of the disease,including but not limited to end-of-life care.This study reports the palliative care practice for a patient on maintenance dialysis in the Blood Purification Center of Peking Union Medical College Hospital and reviews the present situation of palliative care in end-stage renal disease.
Humans ; Palliative Care/psychology* ; Quality of Life ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/therapy* ; Terminal Care/psychology* ; Renal Dialysis/psychology*

PURPOSE: In this study, the hospice nursing research trend in 1998~2017 was investigated by analyzing research articles on hospice nursing. METHODS: Literature search was performed with keywords of ‘nursing’ and ‘hospice on an academic research information service. Also reviewed were all articles published in the Korean Journal of Nursing Science and its 8 subcategory journals, the Korean Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care and the Korean Hospice Association from 1998 through 2017, except thesis papers. RESULTS: In 2013~2017, 79 articles (31.0%) were relevant, up over 7% from 61 articles (23.9%) in 2008~2012. The most studied field was psychology (92 papers, 36.2%) in the Korean Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care. Enrolled in most papers were patients with end-stage cancer (75, 29.5%), which is overwhelmingly high. Most studies used quantitative methods (183, 72.0%). Recognition was the most studied theme (62, 24.4%), and 16 of them focused on recognition of death (6.3%). Intervention studies totaled 34 (13.4%), and most of them (7, 2.8%) were conducted for palliative education. CONCLUSION: Most hospice nursing studies were quantitative studies, conducted with patients, and hospice nursing intervention programs were similar to each other. Thus, more studies with hospice patients and their families are needed. And more experimental and qualitative studies are needed to build an evidence-based nursing study environment. Considering how most studies examined psychological factors, physiological factors such as pain, a major issue in hospice care, should be analyzed in experimental studies to construct a pain intervention program for hospice patients.
Education ; Evidence-Based Nursing ; Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing ; Hospice Care ; Hospices ; Humans ; Information Services ; Nursing Research ; Nursing ; Palliative Care ; Psychology

Objective s The in-hosptial palliative care consultation (PCC) is emerging as a routine service in some medical center in China. The current study evaluated how physicians in primary care team and consultation team perceive the PCC service for the purpose of investigating the effectiveness of this consultation model in a general hospital. Methods In-hosptial palliative care consultations have been carried out at Peking Union Medical College Hosptial by a dedicated consultation team, and 37 consultations were completed in 2016. A questionnaire was designed for physicians in terms of its benefits to patients,their family as well as the primary care team. Physicians who applied for consultation in 2016 formally (requested from the department other than the Geriatrics) and informally (by rotating residents and unemployed visiting doctors in geriatric department) were invited to participate in the survey by scanning a two dimentional code on social networking platform. Results There were 103 physicians participated in the survey, including primary care physicians from the department of Internal Medicine (n=8), Gynaecology (n=16) and Surgery (n=13), rotating residents (n=30), visiting doctors (n=16) in Geriatric department, and PCC team members (n=20). 94.0% of the non-PCC physicians agreed that PCC relieved the suffering of patients; 89.2% thought PCC improved the quality of patients' life; there were 91.6%, 95.2%, 90.4% physicians who felt it relieved the anxiety of patients, of family members and of care providers, respectively. There were 96.4% physicians who felt it could ease the tension in physician-patient relationship; 97.6% felt it lower the risk for medical negligence, and 96.4% of doctors who applied for PPC felt satisfied with PCC service in terms of process and achieving objectives of consultation. More primary-team physician agree "PCC service helps the physicians better understand palliative care" than PCC members (97.6% vs. 80%, P<0.05), while both were interested in learning more on palliative medicine (100% vs. 96.4%, P>0.05). Conclusion Palliative care consultation service in a general hospital is efficacious and acclaimed.The primary care physicians and the PCC members hold positive attitudes to the benefits that the PCC services bring to patients, family members, and physicians themselves. PCC for terminal patients in a general hospital may serve as a good modle for promotion of palliative care in China.
China ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Palliative Care ; organization & administration ; Physicians ; psychology ; Referral and Consultation ; Surveys and Questionnaires

For advanced stage tumor patients who can not receive radical treatment, quite a part of them require surgical intervention. Surgeons play a important role and are still the main force in palliative treatment for tumors. But in present medical education system, training contents for surgeon involving palliative treatment are few. In fact, surgeons have responsibilities for improving the quality of life, ameliorating pain, preserving the dignity and relieving symptoms of patients in the palliative treatment of tumors. Surgeons should pay attentions to the communication with patients, play a part of clinical multidisciplinary team and apply reasonable surgical intervention approach. Education of palliative treatment for surgeons should also include medical humanistic concern, and the recognition of effects of medical humanity, ethics, dignity and religion on the recovery of tumor patients.
Communication ; Education, Medical ; standards ; Humans ; Interprofessional Relations ; Neoplasms ; surgery ; Pain Management ; methods ; Palliative Care ; methods ; Patient Care Team ; Physician-Patient Relations ; Quality of Life ; Surgeons ; education ; psychology

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge structure of cancer survivors. METHODS: For data, 1099 articles were collected, with 365 keywords as a Noun phrase extracted from the articles and standardized for analyzing. Co-occurrence matrix were generated via a cosine similarity measure, and then the network analysis and visualization using PFNet and NodeXL were applied to visualize intellectual interchanges among keywords. RESULTS: According to the result of the content analysis and the cluster analysis of author keywords from cancer survivors articles, keywords such as 'quality of life', 'breast neoplasms', 'cancer survivors', 'neoplasms', 'exercise' had a high degree centrality. The 9 most important research topics concerning cancer survivors were 'cancer-related symptoms and nursing', 'cancer treatment-related issues', 'late effects', 'psychosocial issues', 'healthy living managements', 'social supports', 'palliative cares', 'research methodology', and 'research participants'. CONCLUSION: Through this study, the knowledge structure of cancer survivors was identified. The 9 topics identified in this study can provide useful research direction for the development of nursing in cancer survivor research areas. The Network analysis used in this study will be useful for identifying the knowledge structure and identifying general views and current cancer survivor research trends.
Cluster Analysis ; Databases, Factual ; Humans ; *Models, Nursing ; Neoplasms/pathology/*psychology ; Palliative Care ; Qualitative Research ; Quality of Life ; Social Support ; Survivors/psychology

PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop a "Palliative Care Professional" education program and evaluate its effects on the recognition of good death, palliative care, and the meaning of life for nurses. METHODS: It was developed based on the hospice care program for volunteers being used in the Hospice Palliative Care Research Center of S University in Seoul. It was also based on the studies which investigated the educational needs of nurses in palliative care. This program consisted of 5 sessions and 16 content items for 2 weeks. A non-equivalent control group non-synchronized design was utilized and participants were assigned to the experimental group (n=42) or the control group (n=44). RESULTS: The recognition of a good death (F=11.44, p=.001), palliative care (F=4.15, p=.045), and the meaning of life (F=5.12, p=.026) increased more significantly for participants in the experimental group than in the control group. Participants felt that they gained further knowledge in palliative patient management and refined their clinical practice. CONCLUSION: The results of the study indicate that this program could serve as a practical program for palliative care nursing in the nursing field and suggests that more attention should be directed to the diverse educational needs of nurses.
Adult ; Attitude to Death ; Female ; *Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Male ; Nursing Staff/*psychology ; *Palliative Care ; *Program Development ; *Program Evaluation ; Young Adult

To protect patient autonomy when confronting death, the importance of advance directives (ADs) has recently became an issue and gradually accepted in Korea. However, in real practice, ADs were not completed by patients but their families in most cases. To analyze the current situation of performing ADs, we reviewed medical charts of 214 terminal cancer patients admitted to the hospice center from October 2012 to September 2013. Seventy-six (35.5%) patients completed ADs. All ADs were completed by patients themselves. The most common reason for not completing ADs was poor physical and/or mental condition. As a proxy, the majority of patients preferred their spouses (55.3%). Few patients wanted life sustaining treatment (1.3%), however palliative sedation was accepted in 89.5%. The median timing of ADs after admission was three (0-90) days, and duration of survival since ADs was 22 (1-340) days. In conclusion, approximately one third of terminal cancer patients completed ADs by themselves. Considering that patient's poor condition is the main reason for not completing ADs, earlier discussion regarding ADs is necessary to enhance patients' participation.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Advance Directives/psychology/*statistics & numerical data ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Hospices/*statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms/*mortality/psychology ; *Palliative Care ; Republic of Korea ; *Terminal Care ; Young Adult

To protect patient autonomy when confronting death, the importance of advance directives (ADs) has recently became an issue and gradually accepted in Korea. However, in real practice, ADs were not completed by patients but their families in most cases. To analyze the current situation of performing ADs, we reviewed medical charts of 214 terminal cancer patients admitted to the hospice center from October 2012 to September 2013. Seventy-six (35.5%) patients completed ADs. All ADs were completed by patients themselves. The most common reason for not completing ADs was poor physical and/or mental condition. As a proxy, the majority of patients preferred their spouses (55.3%). Few patients wanted life sustaining treatment (1.3%), however palliative sedation was accepted in 89.5%. The median timing of ADs after admission was three (0-90) days, and duration of survival since ADs was 22 (1-340) days. In conclusion, approximately one third of terminal cancer patients completed ADs by themselves. Considering that patient's poor condition is the main reason for not completing ADs, earlier discussion regarding ADs is necessary to enhance patients' participation.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Advance Directives/psychology/*statistics & numerical data ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Hospices/*statistics & numerical data ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms/*mortality/psychology ; *Palliative Care ; Republic of Korea ; *Terminal Care ; Young Adult