Web-Based Post-Bereavement Survey System in Specialized Palliative Care: A Feasibility Pilot Study.

Web-based post-bereavement survey systems for specialized palliative care will enable obtaining timely results on the care quality from more participants at a lower cost. The primary aim of the study was to develop a web-based post-bereavement survey system and to compare response rates for different number of items. The secondary aim was to examine response bias between web-based and mail survey in post-bereavement surveys. Between January and April 2019, two cross-sectional web-based questionnaire surveys were conducted among the bereaved families from six inpatient palliative care units in Japan. Measurements included structure and process of end-of-life (EOL) care, overall care satisfaction, achievement of a good death, depression, grief status, web survey usability, and participant and bereaved family member characteristics. The long survey included 34 items, and the short survey included 16 items. There were no significant differences in the response rates between the long and short surveys (24% and 27%, respectively, p = 0.376). Compared with a previous nationwide post-bereavement mail survey, more children responded; however, the quality rating scores was unchanged. Despite low response rate, no apparent response bias was observed, indicating its feasibility. This survey method is low-cost, less burdensome to the institution, and allows for ongoing quality assurance.

A multi-centre, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of ramelteon for the prevention of postoperative delirium in elderly cancer patients: a study protocol for JORTC-PON2/J-SUPPORT2103/NCCH2103.

Postoperative delirium is an important issue in cancer patients, affecting surgical outcomes and the quality of life. Ramelteon is a melatonin receptor agonist with high affinity for MT1 and MT2 receptors. Clinical trials and observational studies in Japan, including in surgical cancer patients, have shown efficacy of ramelteon in delirium prevention, with no serious safety concerns. However, clinical trials from the USA have reported conflicting results. A Japanese phase II study investigated the efficacy and safety of ramelteon for delirium prevention following gastrectomy in patients aged ≥75 years, with findings suggesting the feasibility of a phase III trial. The aim of this multi-centre, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled phase III trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of oral ramelteon for postoperative delirium prevention in cancer patients aged ≥65 years as advanced medical care. The trial protocol is described here.

Proxy responses regarding quality of life of patients with terminal lung cancer: preliminary results from a prospective observational study.

OBJECTIVE: This prospective study used the EQ-5D utility and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores to analyse the potential usefulness of proxy responses in quality of life assessments of Japanese patients with terminal lung cancer sufficiently healthy to communicate and reply by themselves. We did not investigate the potential usefulness of using proxy responses for patients who could not respond by themselves. DESIGN: A prospective observational study. SETTING: Single centre. PARTICIPANTS: The EQ-5D and VAS responses were gathered from 30 in-hospital patients with lung cancer for a total of three observation points. At nearly the same time, two nurses responded by providing proxy responses. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: EQ-5D and VAS responses. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the patients' and nurses' responses for EQ-5D utility and VAS scores. For the five dimensions of the EQ-5D, significant differences were found between the patients' and nurses' responses for usual activities (patients' response 1.64±0.07, nurses' response 1.41±0.05, p=0.03) and anxiety/depression (patients' response: 1.40±0.05, nurses' response: 1.19±0.03, p=0.02). There was a significant weak positive correlation between patients' and nurses' responses regarding changes in responses from the first to the third observation point (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient ρ=0.228; p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that proxy responses are useful because there were no significant differences between the patients' and nurses' responses for EQ-5D utility and VAS scores at the three observation points. These findings should, however, be verified in future large-scale trials.

Quality of care in hospitalized cancer patients before and after implementation of a systematic prevention program for delirium: the DELTA exploratory trial.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated whether the DELirium Team Approach (DELTA) program-a systematic management program aimed at screening high-risk groups and preventing delirium-would improve quality of care in patients hospitalized with cancer. METHODS: A retrospective before-after study was conducted during a pre-intervention period (between October 2012 and March 2013) and a post-intervention period (between October 2013 and March 2014) at a Japanese hospital providing specialized treatments for cancer. A total of 4180 inpatients were evaluated before the implementation of the DELTA program and 3797 inpatients were evaluated after implementation. RESULTS: After program implementation, the incidence of delirium decreased from 7.1 to 4.3% (odds ratio [OR], 0.52; 95% CI, 0.42-0.64). The incidence of adverse events, including falls or self-extubation, also decreased, from 3.5 to 2.6% (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.54-0.92). There was a significant decrease in the prescription of benzodiazepines (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.71-0.87), increase in the level of independence in activities of daily living at discharge (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.11-3.38), and decrease in the length of stay (risk ratio 0.90; 95% CI, 0.90-0.90). CONCLUSIONS: The systematic management program for delirium decreased the incidence of delirium and improved several clinical outcomes. These data suggest that this simple cost-effective program is feasible and implementable as routine care in busy wards.

Fan Therapy Is Effective in Relieving Dyspnea in Patients With Terminally Ill Cancer: A Parallel-Arm, Randomized Controlled Trial.

CONTEXT: Dyspnea is a common distressing symptom among patients with advanced cancer. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of fan therapy on dyspnea in patients with terminally ill cancer. METHODS: This parallel-arm, randomized controlled trial included 40 patients with advanced cancer from a palliative care unit at the National Cancer Center Hospital in Japan. All patients experienced dyspnea at rest with a score of at least three points on a subjective 0- to 10-point Numerical Rating Scale (NRS), showed peripheral oxygen saturation levels of ≥90%, had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group grade of 3 or 4, and were aged 20 years or more. In one group, a fan was directed to blow air on the patient's face for five minutes. This group was compared to a control group wherein air was blown to the patient's legs. Patients were randomly assigned to each group. The main outcome measure was the difference in dyspnea NRS scores between fan-to-face and fan-to-legs groups. RESULTS: No significant differences were seen in baseline dyspnea NRS between groups (mean score, 5.3 vs. 5.1, P = 0.665). Mean dyspnea changed by -1.35 points (95% CI, -1.86 to -0.84) in patients assigned to receive fan-to-face and by -0.1 points (-0.53 to 0.33) in patients assigned to receive fan-to-legs (P < 0.001). The proportion of patients with a one-point reduction in dyspnea NRS was significantly higher in the fan-to-face arm than in the fan-to-legs arm (80% [n = 16] vs. 25% [n = 5], P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Fan-to-face is effective in alleviating dyspnea in patients with terminally ill cancer.

Evaluation of the Appropriate Washout Period Following Fan Therapy for Dyspnea in Patients With Advanced Cancer: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVES: To clarify the duration required for dyspnea to return to baseline severity after fan therapy, to evaluate whether fan-to-legs therapy or no fan therapy would be a suitable control therapy, and to investigate changes in patients' face surface temperature after fan therapy. METHODS: In this pilot study, all participants received 3 interventions in the following order: no fan, fan to legs, and fan to face. Participants used a fan for 5 minutes, and they scored their dyspnea at 10-minute intervals for 60 minutes or until the score had returned to its baseline value, whichever occurred first. Nine patients with advanced cancer admitted to a palliative care unit were included; they had dyspnea at rest and rated its severity as at least 3 points on a 0- to 10-point numerical rating scale. Descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: All patients completed the study. Of the 9 participants, 6 experienced a clinical benefit from using a fan to their faces. Of these patients, only 2 participants' (2 of 6) dyspnea scores returned to baseline by the end of the 60-minute assessment period after exposure to fan-to-face therapy. In fan-to-legs and no fan settings, there was no change in the dyspnea scores. There were significant differences between the baseline face surface temperature and that after fan-to-face and fan-to-legs settings. CONCLUSION: When using a crossover design to investigate the effect of fan therapy on dyspnea, 1 hour is an insufficient washout period.