47 research outputs found
Does Jacobson's relaxation technique reduce consumption of psychotropic and analgesic drugsin cancer patients? A multicenter pre-post intervention study
Background: Cancer patients often suffer from emotional distress as a result of the oncological process. The purpose of
our study was to determine whether practice of Jacobson?s relaxation technique reduced consumption of psychotropic
and analgesic drugs in a sample of cancer patients.
Methods: This was a multicenter pre?post intervention design. Participants were 272 patients aged over 18 years
attending 10 Spanish public hospitals with oncological pathologies and anxiety symptoms. The intervention
consisted of a protocol of abbreviated progressive muscle relaxation training developed by Bernstein and Borkovec.
This was followed up by telephone calls over a 1-month period. The intervention was performed between November
2014 and October 2015. Sociodemographic variables related to the oncological process, mental health variables, and
intervention characteristics were measured.
Results: A reduction in the consumption of psychotropic and analgesic drugs was observed throughout the follow-up
period. Improvement was observed throughout the 4-week follow-up for all the parameters assessed: anxiety,
relaxation, concentration, and mastery of the relaxation technique.
Conclusions: The practice of abbreviated Jacobson?s relaxation technique can help to decrease the consumption of
psychotropic and analgesic drugs. Patients experienced positive changes in all the evaluated parameters, at least during
the 1-month follow-up. To confirm these findings, additional long-term studies are needed that include control groups.
Trial registration: ISRCTN 81335752, DOI 10.1186/ISRCTN81335752 17.
Date of registration: 22/11/2016 (retrospectively registered)
Achieving the "triple aim" for inborn errors of metabolism: a review of challenges to outcomes research and presentation of a new practice-based evidence framework
Across all areas of health care, decision makers are in pursuit of what
Berwick and colleagues have called the “triple aim”: improving patient
experiences with care, improving health outcomes, and managing
health system impacts. This is challenging in a rare disease context, as
exemplified by inborn errors of metabolism. There is a need for evaluative
outcomes research to support effective and appropriate care for
inborn errors of metabolism. We suggest that such research should
consider interventions at both the level of the health system (e.g., early
detection through newborn screening, programs to provide access to
treatments) and the level of individual patient care (e.g., orphan drugs,
medical foods). We have developed a practice-
based evidence framework
to guide outcomes research for inborn errors of metabolism.
Focusing on outcomes across the triple aim, this framework integrates
three priority themes: tailoring care in the context of clinical heterogeneity;
a shift from “urgent care” to “opportunity for improvement”;
and the need to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of emerging
and established therapies. Guided by the framework, a new Canadian
research network has been established to generate knowledge that will
inform the design and delivery of health services for patients with
inborn errors of metabolism and other rare diseases.This work was supported by a CIHR Emerging Team Grant (“Emerging
team in rare diseases: acheiving the ‘triple aim’ for inborn errors
of metabolism,” B.K. Potter, P. Chakraborty, and colleagues, 2012–
2017, grant no. TR3–119195). Current investigators and collaborators
in the Canadian Inherited Metabolic Diseases Research Network
are: B.K. Potter, P. Chakraborty, J. Kronick, D. Coyle, K. Wilson, M.
Brownell, R. Casey, A. Chan, S. Dyack, L. Dodds, A. Feigenbaum, D.
Fell, M. Geraghty, C. Greenberg, S. Grosse, A. Guttmann, A. Khan,
J. Little, B. Maranda, J. MacKenzie, A. Mhanni, F. Miller, G. Mitchell,
J. Mitchell, M. Nakhla, M. Potter, C. Prasad, K. Siriwardena, K.N.
Speechley, S. Stocker, L. Turner, H. Vallance, and B.J. Wilson. Members
of our external advisory board are D. Bidulka, T. Caulfield, J.T.R.
Clarke, C. Doiron, K. El Emam, J. Evans, A. Kemper, W. McCormack,
and A. Stephenson Julian. J. Little is supported by a Canada Research
Chair in Human Genome Epidemiology. K. Wilson is supported by a
Canada Research Chair in Public Health Policy