Objective: To investigate and document the effects of breathlessness on the everyday lives of patients with cancer and COPD and their carers. This subject has been little researched, although dyspnoea is recognized as a disabling, distressing symptom. The number of breathless people is increasing as patients with all types of cardio-respiratory disease live longer.

Methods: Patients with severe COPD and cancer and their carers were interviewed at home using a semistructured format to record their perceptions of the impact of breathlessness, the help they had received from medical and caring services, and their ideas on how these could be improved.

Results: 10 patients with COPD (6 male) and 10 with cancer (6 male) and their spouses were interviewed. All patients found breathlessness frightening, disabling, and restricting. Patients developed a stoical, philosophical approach in order to live with dyspnoea and the difficulties it imposed: this was also an important way of reducing the emotional impact of breathlessness. Patients' spouses suffered significantly, experiencing severe anxiety and helplessness as they witnessed their partners' suffering and felt powerless to reduce it. The restrictions imposed by breathlessness affected their lives profoundly. Support of all kinds, practical, medical, and psychosocial was highly valued but was provided inconsistently and sporadically. Where help was given it came most frequently from general practitioners (GPs, family physicians) and specialist respiratory nurses.

Significance of results: This study is the first to document the psychosocial needs of carers, which are not adequately recognized or addressed at present. Patients and carers may feel most isolated and need support outside the working hours of most services and future provision needs to reflect this. Patients with cancer experience a more rapid onset of breathlessness. More clinicians need to be educated in the management of chronic breathlessness so known helpful strategies are more widely employed.

Objectives: To validate the QUAL-E, a new measure of quality of life at the end of life.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the instrument's psychometric properties, including the QUAL-E's associations with existing measures, evaluation of robustness across diverse sample groups, and stability over time. The study was conducted at the VA and Duke University Medical Centers, Durham, North Carolina, in 248 patients with stage IV cancer, congestive heart failure with ejection fraction ≤20%, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with FEV1 ≤ 1.0 l, or dialysis-dependent end stage renal disease. The main outcome measures included QUAL-E and five comparison measures: FACIT quality of life measure, Missoula-VITAS Quality of Life Index, FACIT-SP spirituality measures, Participatory Decision Making Scale (MOS), and Duke EPESE social support scales.

Results: QUAL-E analyses confirmed a four-domain structure (25 items): life completion (α = 0.80), symptoms impact (α = 0.87), relationship with health care provider (α = 0.71), and preparation for end of life (α = 0.68). Convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated with multiple comparison measures. Test–retest reliability assessment showed stable scores over a 1-week period.

Significance of results: The QUAL-E, a brief measure of quality of life at the end of life, demonstrates acceptable validity and reliability, is easy to administer, performs consistently across diverse demographic and disease groups, and is acceptable to seriously ill patients. It is offered as a new instrument to assist in the evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of interventions targeting improved care at the end of life.

Objective: Depression is particularly prevalent in patients with advanced cancer. Cognitive therapy (CT) is an empirically supported treatment for depression in the general population. However, efficacy remains to be demonstrated in patients with advanced cancer. A prior controlled trial of CT in a group format showed improvements in depression, mood disturbance, and self-esteem; however, these effects were not maintained over time. Studies examining the efficacy of individual format CT interventions that may ensure more long-term maintenance of benefits are necessary. This study assessed the efficacy of CT for depression administered individually in women with metastatic breast cancer and its effect on immune function.

Method: Forty-five women were randomly assigned to either individual CT or to a waiting-list control (WLC) condition. CT was composed of eight weekly sessions of CT and three booster sessions administered at 3-week intervals following the end of treatment.

Results: Patients treated with CT had significantly lower scores on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale at posttreatment compared to untreated patients. Pooled data from both groups indicated significant reductions of depressive symptoms from pre- to posttreatment, as well as reduction of associated symptoms including anxiety, fatigue, and insomnia symptoms. These effects were well sustained at the 3- and 6-month follow-up evaluations. CT for depression did not appear to have a significant impact on immune functioning.

Significance of results: Findings of this study support the efficacy of CT for depression in this population and suggest that the administration of individual and booster sessions after treatment termination may be instrumental in sustaining the treatment effects over time.

Delirium is a highly prevalent disease in the elderly and postoperative, cancer, and AIDS patients. However it is often misdiagnosed and mistreated. This may be partly due to the inconsistencies of the diagnosis itself. Delirium is best defined currently by an association of cognitive impairment and arousal disturbance. Three subtypes (hyperactive, hypoactive, mixed) receive a definition in the literature, but those definitions may vary from author to author according to the importance they give either to the motoric presentation of the delirium or to the arousal disturbance. Our aim is to point out the inconsistencies we found in the literature, but also to identify different paths that have been explored to solve them, that is, the suggestion to emphasize the arousal disturbances in defining the subtypes instead of the motoric presentations, which seem to be more fluctuating, and because of the fluctuating course of the disease to extend the observation over a period of time, which may improve the accuracy of the diagnosis. This is not without importance from a clinical standpoint. Subtypes of delirium may be explained by different pathophysiologic mechanisms, which remain partly unexplained, and may respond to specific treatments. There is a trend to isolate core symptoms (disorientation, cognitive deficits, sleep–wake cycle disturbance, disorganized thinking, and language abnormalities) so as to distinguish them from secondary symptoms that may be correlated with the different etiologies. Our contribution is also to challenge, with new data, the accepted belief that psychotic features are quite rare in the hypoactive type of delirium. We demonstrate that delusions and perceptual disturbances, although less frequent, are present in more than half of the patients with hypoactive delirium. The psychotic features are clearly correlated with a highly prevalent rate of patients', spouses', and caregivers' distress. The mixed subtype of delirium seems to have the worst prognosis, the hyperactive showing the best prognosis. The treatment of the agitated delirious patient is also more consensual. Haloperidol remains the gold standard in the treatment of delirium regardless of the clinical presentation, but the literature provides several alternatives that may prove more specific and have less adverse effects (atypical antipsychotics, psychostimulants, anesthetics).

“Chemobrain” is the phenomenon of cognitive decline some patients may experience after chemotherapy. Current research indicates the cognitive domains that may be most impacted by chemotherapeutic agents are visual and verbal memory, attention, and psychomotor functioning. These cognitive deficits can have an effect on a patient's ability to make informed treatment decisions, pursue occupational or academic pursuits, and his or her overall quality of life. The potential mechanisms that cause this disruption remain largely unknown, although contributing factors could be vascular injury and oxidative damage, inflammation, direct injury to neurons, autoimmune responses, chemotherapy-induced anemia, and the presence of the apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε 4) gene. Interventions to help alleviate the symptoms of chemobrain could include nonpharmacologic treatment such as antioxidants and cognitive-behavioral therapy. In addition, patients may benefit from pharmacologic treatment such as recombinant human erythropoietin and psychostimulant drugs such as methylphenidate. It is important to note that the proposed therapeutics treat the symptoms of chemobrain based on the hypothesized mechanisms. Therefore, a detailed understanding of the mechanisms that cause chemobrain, as well as a comprehension of what specific cognitive domains are impacted, is crucial in developing more specific treatments to improve patients' cognitive functioning and overall quality of life.

Objective: Our purpose was to determine the frequency of psychiatric morbidity and to assess the quality of life of women with advanced breast cancer.

Methods: The 227 women in the sample were recruited in Melbourne, Australia, and were interviewed (prior to intervention) for a randomized controlled trial of supportive-expressive group therapy. The main outcome measures were DSM–IV psychiatric diagnoses plus quality of life data based on the EORTC QLQ-C30 (core) and QLQ-BR23 (breast module) instruments.

Results: Forty-two percent of the women (97/227) had a psychiatric disorder; 35.7% (81) of these had depression or anxiety or both. Specific diagnoses were minor depression in 58 women (25.6%), major depression in 16 (7%), anxiety disorder in 14 (6.2%), and phobic disorder in 9 (4%). Seventeen (7.5%) women had more than one disorder. In terms of quality of life, one-third felt less attractive, one-quarter were dissatisfied with their body image, and, in most, sexual interest had waned. Menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes affected less than one-third, whereas symptoms of lymphedema were experienced by 26 (11.5%).

Significance: Women with advanced breast cancer have high rates of psychiatric and psychological disturbance. Quality of life is substantially affected. Clinicians need to be vigilant in monitoring psychological adjustment as part of a comprehensive biopsychosocial approach.

Objective: Individuals in the helping professions are subject to unique stressors that may lead to burnout, and research has shown that those who work with dying or bereaved individuals might be particularly at-risk. This study explores how factors such as spirituality and level of training might buffer the stress of working with terminally ill clients and their families.

Method: A total of 80 medical and mental health practitioners attending palliative care seminars were surveyed, with each completing validated measures of daily spiritual experiences and caregiver burnout, as well as assessments of demographic factors, their general education and training experiences specific to working in end-of-life care and bereavement settings.

Results: Findings indicate that daily spiritual experiences might mitigate physical, cognitive, and emotional forms of burnout in the workplace. In addition, a negative correlation was found between the amount of end-of-life training received and burnout in the physical and cognitive domains. However, training was not related to professionals' level of emotional exhaustion.

Significance of the research: Results reinforce a growing literature on the salutary effects of spirituality, and underscore its relevance as one possible form of constructive coping for professionals attending to the needs of the dying and bereaved. The study carries further implications for how the stresses of such work might be ameliorated by enhanced training efforts, as well as creative facilitation of diverse spiritual expressions (e.g., inclusive forms of ritual recognition of loss) in the workplace.

Objective: Women with breast cancer suffer from considerable stress related to the diagnosis, surgery, and medical treatment. It is important to develop strategies to strengthen coping resources among these women. Research in art therapy has shown outcomes such as an increase in self-esteem and cohesion, significant improvement in global health, and a decrease in anxiety and depression. The aim of the present article was to describe the effects of an art therapy intervention program on coping resources in women with primary breast cancer.

Method: In this article, we report some of the results from a study including 41 women, aged 37–69 years old, with nonmetastatic primary breast cancer, referred to the Department of Oncology at Umeå University Hospital in Sweden for postoperative radiotherapy. The women represented various socioeconomic backgrounds. They were randomized to a study group (n = 20) with individual art therapy for 1 h/week during postoperative radiotherapy or to a control group (n = 21). The article focuses on changes in coping resources, as measured by the Coping Resources Inventory (CRI) before and 2 and 6 months after the start of radiotherapy. The study protocol was approved by the Umeå University Ethical Committee at the Medical Faculty (archive number 99–386).

Results: There was an overall increase in coping resources among women with breast cancer after taking part in the art therapy intervention. Significant differences were seen between the study and control groups in the social domain on the second and third occasions. Significant differences were also observed in the total score on the second occasion.

Significance of results: This study shows that individual art therapy provided by a trained art therapist in a clinical setting can give beneficial support to women with primary breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy, as it can improve their coping resources.

Objective: Health care professionals and policy makers acknowledge that spiritual needs are important for many patients with life-limiting illnesses. We asked such patients to describe their spiritual needs and how these needs may impinge on their physical, psychological, and social well-being. Patients were also encouraged to explain in what ways their spiritual needs, if they had any, could be addressed.

Methods: We conducted two qualitative interviews, 3 months apart, with 20 patients in their last year of life: 13 patients with advanced cancer and 7 with advanced nonmalignant illness. We also interviewed each patient's general practitioner. Sixty-six interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed.

Results: Patients' spiritual needs centered around their loss of roles and self-identity and their fear of dying. Many sought to make sense of life in relation to a nonvisible or sacred world. They associated anxiety, sleeplessness, and despair with such issues, which at times resulted in them seeking support from health professionals. Patients were best able to engage their personal resources to meet these needs when affirmed and valued by health professionals.

Significance of results: Enabling patients to deal with their spiritual needs through affirmative relationships with health professionals may improve quality of life and reduce use of health resources. Further research to explore the relationship between spiritual distress and health service utilization is indicated.