Despite a number of descriptive studies exploring the effectiveness of specialized pain and palliative care teams, the dearth of good evaluations, with any comparative design, urgently needs to be addressed. This is a randomized, repeated measures, evaluation study to explore the effectiveness of the inpatient Pain and Palliative Care Service intervention. The data collected during this study includes both outcomes of the intervention and patient and family perceptions of the care delivery process including issues surrounding communication with health care providers. Patients with advanced malignancies who are currently participating in NCI Surgery Branch protocols are asked to participate in a pain and symptoms management evaluation study. Each patient and a designated family member is asked to complete a series of questionnaires over time exploring physical, psychosocial and emotional correlates of pain and symptom management. Data will be analyzed using multivariate statistics. Fifty-three patients have been accrued to date. Data collection and subject accrual continue.
| Wallen, Gwenyth R; Berger, Ann (2004) Mixed methods: in search of truth in palliative care medicine. J Palliat Med 7:403-4 |
