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Background and purpose: Working collaboratively as a multidisciplinary team in the treatment and care of cancer patients is proven effective in increasing the quality of patient care. A multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting (MDTM) is the main vehicle that facilitates this collaborative work between different healthcare specialities, and an appropriate meeting record is essential to communicate the meeting's outcomes. There is limited research to date regarding MDTM documentation, and here we report on a sample of healthcare professional's perspectives on current practices. Methodology: A survey, distributed to a purposive snowball sample, is used to collect the perceptions on record-keeping at MDTMs from involved healthcare workers. The survey is descriptive and exploratory in nature and uses closed and open-ended questions offered in both English and Swedish. Results: With a response of 37 healthcare workers, several commonly understood practices of MDTMs are confirmed, documentation is mostly electronic, encompasses suggested information, and the record is mostly acceptable in quality. The issues of responsibility, registering attendance, and verification of documentation can be improved. Conclusion: Electronic documentation is a laudable step that shows advancement in MDTM record-keeping. The highlighted quality of the records suggests that MDTM proceedings are reasonably well documented. There remain some important questions, with regard to standardization, centralization, and the responsibility for record-keeping at MDTMs.

IntroductionDisrupted sleep and sleep-wake activity are frequently observed in cancer patients undergoing oncological treatment. These disruptions are often associated with aggravated symptom burden and diminished health-related quality of life that in turn may compromise treatment adherence and, thus, effectiveness. In addition, disrupted sleep has been linked to carcinogenic processes, which ultimately could result in worse prognostic outcomes.AimsOur aim was to systematically review and conduct a meta-analysis of studies examining the associations between sleep and sleep-wake activity and prognostic outcomes in cancer patients undergoing oncological treatment.MethodsA comprehensive systematic search of English language papers was undertaken in June 2020 using PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and CINAHL. Two reviewers independently screened 4,879 abstracts. A total of 26 papers were included in the narrative review. Thirteen papers reporting hazard ratios reflecting associations between a dichotomized predictor variable (sleep) and prognostic outcomes were subjected to meta-analysis.ResultsNineteen of the 26 eligible studies on a total of 7,092 cancer patients reported associations between poorer sleep and poorer response to treatment, shorter time to progression, and/or reduced overall survival, but were highly heterogeneous with respect to the sleep and outcome parameters investigated. Meta-analysis revealed statistically significant associations between poor self-reported sleep and reduced overall survival (HR = 1.33 [95% CI 1.09–1.62], k = 11), and shorter time to progression (HR = 1.40 [95% CI 1.23–1.59], k = 3) and between poor objectively assessed sleep and reduced overall survival (HR = 1.74 [95% CI 1.05–2.88], k = 4).ConclusionThe current findings indicate that disturbed sleep during treatment may be a relevant behavioral marker of poor cancer prognosis. The limited number of studies, the common use of single item sleep measures, and potential publication bias highlight the need for further high quality and longitudinal studies.

Einleitung: In Österreich zählen onkologische Erkrankungen zu den häufigsten Erkrankungen von Palliativpatient*innen. Überwiegend werden Patient*innen durch pflegende Angehörige zu Hause versorgt. Die Versorgung kranker Patient*innen durch pflegende Angehörige ist aufgrund von pflegerischen Tätigkeiten sowie Verwaltungsaufgaben meist mit Belastungen verbunden. Ziel dieser Arbeit sind die Faktoren, welche zur Belastung von pflegenden Angehörigen bei Patient*innen mit fortgeschrittenem oder terminalem Krebs führen sowie Faktoren, welche mehrere Belastungsebenen betreffen, zu beschreiben. Methodik: Zur Beantwortung der Forschungsfrage wurde eine systematische Literaturrecherche in den Datenbanken „CINAHL“ und „PubMed“ im Zeitraum April 2023 durchgeführt. Die zwölf inkludierten Studien wurden nach den Bewertungskriterien von Brandenburg, Panfil und Mayer (2007) beurteilt. Anschließend wurden die Ergebnisse anhand der von sechs Belastungsebenen synthetisiert. Ergebnisse: Mithilfe der vorliegenden Resultate konnten 31 belastungsauslösende Faktoren zu sechs Belastungsebenen physisch, psychisch, finanziell, spirituell, sozial und allgemein zugeordnet werden. Des Weiteren konnten drei Belastungsfaktoren erkannt werden, welche in mehreren Belastungsebenen präsent waren. Schlussfolgerung: Es ist wichtig für das Gesundheits- und Krankheitspersonal die belastungsauslösenden Faktoren von pflegenden Angehörigen im Rahmen des Pflegeprozesses zu identifizieren, um präventiv Belastung zu verhindern oder bestehende Belastungen zu vermindern. Introduction: In Austria, oncological diseases are among the most frequent diseases of palliative patients. Most patients are cared at home by family caregivers. The care of sick patients by family caregivers is usually associated with burden due to nursing activities and administrative tasks. The aim of this paper is to describe the factors that lead to caregiver burden of patients with advanced or terminal cancer as well as factors that affecting multiple levels of burden. Methodology: A systematic literature search was conducted in the databases "CINAHL" and "PubMed" in the period April 2023. Twelve studies were included and evaluated according to the evaluation criteria of Brandenburg, Panfil, and Mayer (2007). Subsequently, the results were synthesized based on the six levels of burden. Results: As a result 31 burden triggering factors could be assigned to six burden levels: physical, psychological, financial, spiritual, social and general. Furthermore, three burden factors were identified that were present in multiple burden levels. Conclusio: It is important for health care professionals to identify the factors that triggers caregiver burden as part of the nursing process to prevent stress or reduce existing stress in a preventive manner

This paper presents a multi-professional integrated approach toward the recognition and management of the nutritional and psychological needs of cancer patients. In particular, the patients undertook a multi-professional, multistep process that included the collection of both personal and clinical data, the evaluation of anthropometric measures, nutritional status and psychometric indices, and an ensuing personalized nutritional prescription and psychological support, ultimately leading to combined nutritional and psychological interventions to control their adherence to a nutritional program and to consolidate motivation to change. Overall, 120 patients were recruited for the study. The majority (84.2%) were female. Breast cancer was by far the most frequent malignancy (52.5%), followed by colorectal (17.5%), pancreatic (9.2%), ovarian (9.2%) and lung (5.0%) cancers. The results of the nutritional and psychological screening at baseline indicated that only 35% of patients had a normal BMI, whilst a relatively high proportion (nearly 32%) was overweight or obese (25%). The INRAN and MEDI-LITE questionnaires, which were used to assess the eating habits and adherence to a Mediterranean diet, respectively, revealed a mixed prevalence of cereals/cereal-based, fresh/processed meat, and fish or fishery food, with a medium–low adherence to the Mediterranean diet in nearly 38% of patients. The BUT, HADS and SF-36 tests, which were used to assess psychological disturbances, showed that 37.5% of patients had disorders regarding body image, 29.2% had abnormal anxiety and 20.0% had a depressive state, while no significant association was observed between the SF-36 PCS and MCS and the patients′ characteristics. The results of the potential impact of this novel approach on the QoL of patients after completion of the course are awaited with expectation.