Health professionals’ view on the role of hope and communication challenges with patients in palliative care: A systematic narrative review

ObjectiveTo identify health professionals' (HPs) perspectives on the role of hope and the main challenges faced when communicating with patients in palliative care (PC).MethodsSearch on PubMed, Scopus, SocIndex, Cochrane, and Web of Science using: palliat*, palliative care, palliative medicine, hospice care, terminal care, long term care, supportive care, end of life (EOL) care and hope*, followed by a thematic narrative analysis.ResultsThirty-five studies were included. HPs' views were grouped in: Bringing out hope and Taking down hope. HPs believe that hope is elicited through a personal patient-provider bond and exhibited through medical treatment delivery. HPs face difficulties when delivering prognosis, referring to hospice, and providing palliation.ConclusionHope is conveyed through verbal and non-verbal communication. HPs struggle to account for hope's shifting character, challenging the engagement in EOL discussions.Practical implicationsFindings show a patient-provider clash of perspectives, suggesting a gap in acknowledging the shifting nature of hope. An important question emerges: Are the existing theories of hope that are solely explained from a patient experience relevant for HPs' own interpretation? Investigating the HPs' attitudes gathered in collective experiences in PC, might contribute to answering the question in the context of building more constructive communication approaches.     

Guidelines of the French Society of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (SFORL) and the French Society of Audiology (SFA) for Speech-in-Noise Testing in Adults

ObjectivesThis document presents the fundamentals of speech audiometry in noise, general requirements for implementation and criteria for choice among the tests available in French according to the health-professional's needs.Material and methodsThe recommendations are based on a systematic analysis of the literature carried out by a multidisciplinary group of doctors, audiologists and audioprosthetists from all over France. They are graded A, B, C or expert opinion according to decreasing level of scientific evidence.ResultsEight tests of speech audiometry in noise can be used in France.ConclusionTo be complete, evaluation of hearing status requires testing understanding of speech in noise. The examination must begin with a minimum of two measurements familiarizing the subject with the test procedure. For initial diagnosis, adaptive procedures establishing the 50% speech reception threshold (SRT50) in noise are to be preferred in order to obtain a rapid and standardized measurement of perception of speech in noise. When the aim is to measure real-life speech comprehension, tests based on sentences, cocktail-party noise and free-field stimulation are to be preferred. Prosthetic gain is evaluated exclusively in free field. This is the only way to evaluate the contribution of binaurality and to measure perception in noise in an environment as close as possible to real life. In order to avoid acoustic interference in free field, at least five loudspeakers should be used, in particular for evaluating the effectiveness of directional microphones, CROS devices enabling sounds picked up in the damaged ear to be rerouted to the functional ear, or bimodal fitting (i.e., when hearing is enabled by two modalities: for example, hearing aid for one ear, cochlear implant for the other).     

Female reproductive and hormonal factors and lung cancer mortality among never-smokers: A prospective cohort study of 287 408 Chinese women

There is growing, but inconsistent evidence suggesting oestrogen may play a key role in lung cancer development, especially among never-smoking women for whom lung cancer risk factors remain largely elusive. Using the China Kadoorie Biobank, a large-scale prospective cohort with 302 510 women aged 30 to 79 years recruited from 10 regions in China during 2004 to 2008, we assessed the risk of lung cancer death among self-reported never-smoking women who were cancer-free at baseline, in relation to age at menarche, age at menopause, time since menopause, prior use of oral contraceptives (OCP), number of livebirths, breastfeeding and age at first livebirth. Women were followed up to December 31, 2016 with linkage to mortality data. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using Cox regression, adjusting for key confounders including several socio-demographic, environmental and lifestyle factors. Among 287 408 never-smoking women, 814 died from lung cancer with a median follow-up of 10.3 years. Women who had used OCP within 15 years prior to baseline had a significantly higher hazard of lung cancer death compared with never-users: HR = 1.85 (95% CI: 1.14-3.00) and risk increased by 6% with each additional year of use: HR = 1.06 (1.01-1.10). Among parous women, the hazard of lung cancer death increased by 13% with each single livebirth: HR = 1.13 (1.05-1.23); and among post-menopausal women, the risk increased by 2% with each year since menopause: HR = 1.02 (1.01-1.04). These results suggest that reproductive factors which were proxies for lower endogenous oestrogen level, for example, longer duration of OCP use, could play a role in lung cancer development.     

Barrett食管伴滑动性食管裂孔疝腹腔镜治疗疗效观察

目的探究合并滑动性食管裂孔疝的Barrett食管患者经腹腔镜下治疗后生活质量和食管黏膜病变的改善情况。 方法回顾性收集首都医科大学宣武医院胃食管反流中心2016年1月至2020年12月诊断为Barrett食管伴滑动性食管裂孔疝患者23例，接受腹腔镜食管裂孔疝修补+胃底折叠术，于术前和术后12周时行胃镜、胃食管反流病自测量表（Gerd Q）评分、反流症状指数（RSI）评分、健康调查量表36（SF-36）调查问卷，评估患者术后生活质量和食管黏膜改善情况。 结果23例伴滑动性食管裂孔疝的Barrett患者术后12周随访显示3例患者黏膜病变部分消退。患者术后GerdQ、RSI相较术前均有明显改善（GerdQ：5.78±1.54 vs 11.65±1.50，P=0.00；RSI：9.70±1.92 vs 18.57±3.01，P=0.00），SF-36量表仅在生理功能方面改善不明显（85.87±4.16 vs 86.43±3.12，P=0.31），生理职能、情感职能、活力、精神健康、社会功能、躯体疼痛和总体健康方面均明显改善（生理职能：66.43±6.13 vs 35.48±2.86，P=0.00；情感职能：73.74±4.91 vs 65.22±2.58，P=0.00；活力：56.96±3.80 vs 50.30±4.56，P=0.00；精神健康：62.09±4.89 vs 53.26±2.07，P=0.00；社会功能：81.39±4.42 vs 74.00±3.59，P=0.00；躯体疼痛：80.00±6.84 vs 75.30±10.27，P=0.00；总体健康：69.17±5.68 vs 60.17±4.61，P=0.00）。 结论腹腔镜食管裂孔疝修补+胃底折叠术对伴滑动性食管裂孔疝的Barrett食管患者生活质量和黏膜病变均有一定改善。