著者

Hiroyuki Tsugita Maho Aoyama Noriaki Satake Makoto Saito Yusuke Hiratsuka Akira Inoue Shin Takayama Mitsunori Miyashita

出版者

Tohoku University Medical Press

雑誌

The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine (ISSN:00408727)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.254, no.3, pp.155-161, 2021 (Released:2021-07-03)

参考文献数

20

被引用文献数

2

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Management of nausea is an important dimension of palliative care. The first choice for treating nausea is antiemetics, but their efficacy is inadequate. Acupressure intervention for nausea in cancer patients has been studied as a non-pharmacological therapy, and appears to have had some effect. However, such a therapy has not been well reviewed in patients with terminal cancer. The purpose of this study was to clarify the feasibility of acupressure intervention and examine its safety and preliminary efficacy. We recruited cancer patients that fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were admitted to the palliative care unit, from August 2018 to February 2019, in Tohoku University Hospital, Japan. We conducted a longitudinal assessment of acupressure intervention in a single arm. We identified the patient’s research accomplishments and evaluated possible fainting due to the vagal reflex and symptom severity. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate the completion rate for the feasibility and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to compare the average of continuous variables for the safety and efficacy. Twelve patients participated in this study and completed the procedure. Their average age was 70 years (SD = 9.3), and the most common primary cancer sites were the rectum and pancreas. The blood pressure and pulse rate did not drop sharply. Four patients exhibited decreased nausea but there was no statistically significant difference (P = 0.5). We suggested that acupressure has high feasibility and safety, as an intervention for patients with terminal cancer. However, no significant differences were observed regarding its effect on nausea.

著者

Keitaro Shinada Takashi Kohno Keiichi Fukuda Michiaki Higashitani Naoto Kawamatsu Takeshi Kitai Tatsuhiro Shibata Makoto Takei Kotaro Nochioka Gaku Nakazawa Hiroki Shiomi Mitsunori Miyashita Atsushi Mizuno

出版者

The Japanese Circulation Society

雑誌

Circulation Journal (ISSN:13469843)

巻号頁・発行日

pp.CJ-23-0507, (Released:2023-11-22)

参考文献数

29

被引用文献数

1

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Background: Enhanced discussions regarding end-of-life (EOL) are crucial to provide appropriate care for seriously ill patients. However, the current status of EOL discussions, especially their timing and influencing factors, among patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remains unknown.Methods and Results: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey of bereaved family members of CVD patients who died at 10 tertiary care institutes in Japan. In all, 286 bereaved family members (38.2% male; median age 66.0 [interquartile range 58.0–73.0] years) of CVD patients were enrolled; of these, 200 (69.9%) reported that their families had had EOL discussions with physicians. The major topic discussed was resuscitation (79.0%), and 21.5% discussed the place of EOL care. Most discussions were held during hospitalization of the patient (88.2%). More than half (57.1%) the discussions were initiated less than 1 month before the patient died, and 22.6% of family members felt that this timing of EOL discussions was late. Bereaved family members’ perception of late EOL discussions was associated with the family members aggressive attitude towards life-prolonging treatment, less preparedness for bereavement, and less satisfaction with EOL care.Conclusions: Approximately 70% of bereaved family members of CVD patients had EOL discussions, which were often held shortly before the patient died. Further research is required to establish an ideal approach to EOL discussions at an appropriate time, which may improve the quality of EOL care.

著者

Yusuke Hiratsuka Maho Aoyama Taiko Kaneta Kento Masukawa Keita Tagami Mitsunori Miyashita Akira Inoue

出版者

Tohoku University Medical Press

雑誌

The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine (ISSN:00408727)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.251, no.2, pp.91-96, 2020 (Released:2020-06-23)

参考文献数

18

被引用文献数

2

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Providing spiritual care in light of a patient’s religious and/or spiritual background can help improve the quality of end-of-life care. Rinsho-shukyo-shi is a Japanese interfaith chaplain who provides religious and spiritual care to patients. In this study, we qualitatively explore the impressions of patients in a palliative care unit of the activities of an interfaith chaplain in a hospital in Japan. The authors used semi-structured interviews carried out by a male nurse experienced in qualitative and quantitative research in palliative care. The male nurse asked only a few predetermined questions in the interviews, which were conducted from January 19 to December 26, 2018. The interviewees were 15 patients diagnosed with advanced cancer (five men and 10 women; aged 53-81 years), and they were admitted to the palliative care unit of Tohoku University Hospital (the hospital has no religious affiliation). Patients who had spoken to the interfaith chaplain at the hospital at least twice were included in the study. The interviews were digitally audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed. Three main themes were identified through thematic analysis. Resistance varied across patients; no patient felt resistance to the intervention by, or to the presence of, the interfaith chaplain once he/she had spoken with him. Opinions about the interfaith chaplain also varied, with 10 patients claiming that his role was necessary for end-of-life care and beneficial for the chaplain himself. Finally, the patients’ religious beliefs varied widely. In conclusion, the interfaith chaplain is deemed helpful by the interviewed patients in relieving their anxieties.