The findings from this study need to be replicated before definitive clinical practice recommendations can be made. Until that time, clinicians need to assess patients for the occurrence of multiple symptoms that may place them at increased risk for poorer outcomes.

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The purpose of this longitudinal study was to compare the quality of life and affective state of patients receiving chemotherapy who developed oral mucositis to patients who did not. Outpatients had their mouths assessed at the beginning of their chemotherapy, completed the Multidimensional Quality of Life scale, Cancer version (MQOLS-CA) and the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Patients again completed the MQOLS-CA and POMS if they developed mucositis during their three cycles (monthly), or if they did not and were exiting the study. Seventy-seven outpatients completed the study; 28 patients developed mucositis and 49 did not. The MQOLS-CA total scores for the entire sample decreased significantly over time (F(1,75) = 25.44, P < 0.001), but there was no group by time interaction, i.e., the change in MQOLS-CA total scores did not depend on mucositis status. While the POMS Total Mood Disturbance scores for the entire sample increased significantly over time (F(1,75) = 19.55, P < 0.001), there was a significant group by time interaction (F(1,75)= 4.85, P = 0.03). Patients who developed mucositis had a significant increase in mood disturbance compared to patients who did not. Further, the POMS subscales of depression and anger showed the same pattern of significant increases. In conclusion, the development of mucositis adversely affected the outpatients' affective states, but not their QOL.

A B S T R A C T PurposeThis study compared the occurrence rates for and severity ratings of sleep disturbance in patient-family caregiver (FC) dyads. Patients and MethodsIn total, 102 dyads were recruited from two radiation therapy (RT) departments. Patients and their FCs completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the General Sleep Disturbance Scale (GSDS) and wore wrist actigraphs to obtain subjective and objective measures of the occurrence and severity of sleep disturbance at the initiation of RT. Match paired t tests were used to evaluate for dyadic differences. ResultsNo differences were found in the occurrence of clinically significant levels of sleep disturbance between patients and their FCs that ranged between 40% and 50% using subjective and objective measures. Few differences were found in the severity of any of the sleep-wake parameters between patients and FCs using both the subjective and objective measures of sleep disturbance. ConclusionThe findings from this study suggest that patients with cancer and their FCs experience similar levels of sleep disturbance and that both groups could benefit from interventions that aim to promote restful sleep. In addition to routine and systematic assessment of sleep disturbance by oncology clinicians, interventions are needed that take into account the specific needs of the patient and the FC as well as the potential for partners' sleep patterns to influence one another.

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To date, no studies have evaluated for differences in subjective and objective measures of sleep disturbance in oncology outpatients with and without pain. This descriptive study recruited 182 patients from two radiation therapy (RT) departments at the time of the patient's simulation visit. Approximately 38% of the sample reported moderate to severe pain (i.e., worst pain intensity of 6.2 ± 2.4). After controlling for age, patients with pain reported worse sleep quality and more sleep disturbance using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. With the General Sleep Disturbance Scale, patients with pain reported poorer sleep quality, increased use of sleep medications, and more daytime sleepiness. In addition using an objective measure of sleep disturbance (i.e., actigraphy), significant Gender × Pain interactions were found for sleep onset latency, percentage of time awake at night, wake duration, total sleep time, and sleep efficiency. While no differences were found in female patients, males with pain had worse scores than males without pain. Findings from this study suggest that pain and sleep disturbance are prevalent in oncology outpatients and that a patient's age and gender need to be considered in any evaluation of the relationship between pain and sleep.Perspective: The effects of pain on subjective and objective sleep parameters appear to be influenced by both patients' age and gender.

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Blinded ratings of validated photoscales showed significant improvement in upper and lower cheek fullness. Rater estimates of mean participant age showed a significant monotonic decrease from 50.8 years at baseline to 49.6 years at 8 weeks and 48.1 years at 20 weeks. Participants were highly satisfied, noting significant improvement in 18 of 20 facial features.This study had limitations that may reduce its external validity. The sample was small, exclusively of middle-aged women, there were numerous dropouts, and there was no control group in the study. Another limitation is that participants were self-selected and may have been particularly willing to continue with an exercise regimen.In conclusion, a regimen of at-home facial exercises maintained for 20 weeks seemed to improve mid-face and lower face fullness. The mechanism may be exercise-actuated hypertrophy of cheek and other muscles. Further research is warranted to isolate the causes and effects of exercise-related changes and to assess the generalizability of these findings.