Recovering from chronic myeloid leukemia: the patients' perspective seen through the lens of narrative medicine.

PURPOSE: The main objective of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how patients suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cope with their illness. The study aims to reconstruct the subjective meaning-making process related to CML in order to gain insights into the impact the disease has on patients' emotions and everyday lives, as well as to explore the psychological impact of their being presented with the chance to suspend their therapy and recover from the disease. METHODS: Data were gathered from a qualitative study conducted in Italy on 158 Italian CML patients. Basing the study on the narrative inquiry approach, the patients were required to describe their patient journey in a qualitative narrative diary. These contained prompts to elicit the free expression of their needs, expectations, and priorities. A lexicographic analysis was carried out with T-LAB software and in particular a thematic analysis of elementary contexts (TAECs) and a word association analysis (WAA). RESULTS: The TAEC detected four thematic clusters related to two factors (temporal frame and contextual setting) that explained the variance among the narratives. The WAA evidenced a wide variety of emotions, both positive and negative, as patients reacted to the possibility of interrupting their therapy. CONCLUSIONS: A better understanding of patients' experiences can offer insights into promoting the development of more sustainable healthcare services and into therapeutic innovation aimed at improving patients' quality of life and at engaging them more in their treatment. The findings of this study can also help make medical professionals more aware of the patient's burden and help them identify potential interactions and emotional levers to improve clinical relationships.

Correlation between dosage and antipyretic effect of aspirin in children.

One hundred and forty-five children aged 3 months to 11.5 years, with rectal temperatures greater than 38.9 degrees C, were randomly treated with aspirin 5, 10 or 15 mg/kg p.o. Temperatures were recorded just before medication, every 30 min thereafter for 4 h and subsequently hourly up to 6 h. In all dosage regimens the average temperature was significantly reduced in the time interval 1-6 h after drug administration; the antipyretic effect, however, was significantly greater with the 10 and 15 mg/kg doses. Both had significantly better and comparable clinical efficacy, defined as reduction in fever below 38.9 degrees C. The duration of the clinical effect was not dose-related. A dose of 10 mg/kg appears rational for the treatment of children with fever.