Dataset Information

Pharmacological treatments for fatigue associated with palliative care: executive summary of a Cochrane Collaboration systematic review.

ABSTRACT: In palliative care patients, fatigue can be severely debilitating and is often not counteracted with rest, thereby impacting daily activity and quality of life. Further complicating issues are the multidimensionality, subjective nature and lack of a consensus definition of fatigue. The review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of pharmacological treatments for fatigue in palliative care, with a focus on patients at an advanced stage of disease, including patients with cancer and other chronic diseases.We considered randomized controlled trials concerning adult palliative care with a focus on pharmacological treatment of fatigue compared with placebo, application of two drugs, usual care or a non-pharmacological intervention. The primary outcome had to be non-specific fatigue (or related terms such as asthenia). We searched the CENTRAL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and EMBASE, and a selection of cancer journals up to 28 April 2014. Two review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted the data.We screened 1645 publications of which 45 met the inclusion criteria. In total, we analysed data from 18 drugs and 4696 participants. There was a very high degree of statistical and clinical heterogeneity in the trials. Meta-analysis of data was possible for modafinil, pemoline, and methylphenidate.Due to the limited evidence, we cannot recommend a specific drug for the treatment of fatigue in palliative care patients. Some drugs, which may be beneficial for the treatment of fatigue associated with palliative care such as amantadine, methylphenidate, and modafinil, should be further researched.

SUBMITTER: Mucke M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4799864 | biostudies-other | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundIn contemporary medical research, randomised controlled trials are seen as the gold standard for establishing treatment effects where it is ethical and practical to conduct them. In palliative care such trials are often impractical, unethical, or extremely difficult, with multiple methodological problems. We review the utility of Cochrane reviews in informing palliative care practice.MethodsPublished reviews in palliative care registered with the Cochrane Pain, Palliative and Supportive Care Group as of December 2007 were obtained from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, issue 1, 2008. We reviewed the quality and quantity of primary studies available for each review, assessed the quality of the review process, and judged the strength of the evidence presented. There was no prior intention to perform any statistical analyses.Results25 published systematic reviews were identified. Numbers of included trials ranged from none to 54. Within each review, included trials were heterogeneous with respect to patients, interventions, and outcomes, and the number of patients contributing to any single analysis was generally much lower than the total included in the review. A variety of tools were used to assess trial quality; seven reviews did not use this information to exclude low quality studies, weight analyses, or perform sensitivity analysis for effect of low quality. Authors indicated that there were frequently major problems with the primary studies, individually or in aggregate. Our judgment was that the reviewing process was generally good in these reviews, and that conclusions were limited by the number, size, quality and validity of the primary studies.We judged the evidence about 23 of the 25 interventions to be weak. Two reviews had stronger evidence, but with limitations due to methodological heterogeneity or definition of outcomes. No review provided strong evidence of no effect.ConclusionCochrane reviews in palliative care are well performed, but fail to provide good evidence for clinical practice because the primary studies are few in number, small, clinically heterogeneous, and of poor quality and external validity. They are useful in highlighting the weakness of the evidence base and problems in performing trials in palliative care.

Project description:BackgroundPubertal gynecomastia (PG), a benign condition with varied reported prevalence, typically appears at 13-14 years-old and is mostly idiopathic and self-limited. Psychologic impairments are common among adolescents with gynecomastia. Surgical intervention is reserved to severe cases and is offered towards the end of puberty. Pharmacological treatment is seldom given by clinicians mainly due to insufficient published data. We conducted this systematic literature review to assess the efficacy, safety, side effects, and complications of pharmacological treatments published.MethodsMEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL were searched for the terms "gynecomastia", "pubertal", and "adolescent" in conjunction with medications from the Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator (SERM), aromatase inhibitors (AI), and androgens groups in different combinations to optimize the search results. Exclusion criteria included: studies based on expert opinion, similar evidence-based medicine levels studies, and studies which discuss gynecomastia in adults. Selected articles were assessed by two authors. Data collected included: the level of evidence, population size, treatment regimen, follow-up, outcomes, complications, and side effects.ResultsOf 1,425 published studies found and examined meticulously by the authors, only 24 publications met all the study research goals. These were divided into 16 publications of patients treated with SERM, of whom four had AI and four androgens. In general, the data regarding pharmacologic therapy for PG is partial, with insufficient evidence-based research. Tamoxifen and SERM drugs have long been used as treatments for PG. Tamoxifen was the chosen drug of treatment in most of the reviewed studies and found to be effective, safe, and with minimal side effects.ConclusionsPharmacological treatment as a new standard of care has an advantage in relieving behavioral and psychological distress. Although high quality publications are lacking, pharmacological intervention with tamoxifen is appropriate in select patients. Conduction large-scale high-quality studies are warranted with various drugs.

Dataset Information

Pharmacological treatments for fatigue associated with palliative care: executive summary of a Cochrane Collaboration systematic review.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets