Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36157162›Full record

ArticleWorld journal of clinical oncology2022

Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale may reduce medical visits in patients undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Valeria Sanna, Palma Fedele, Giulia Deiana, Maria G Alicicco, Chiara Ninniri, Anna N Santoro, Antonio Pazzola, Alessandro Fancellu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in World journal of clinical oncology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Valeria SannaUnit of Medical Oncology, A.O.U. Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy.
Palma FedeleUnit of Medical Oncology, Hospital "D. Camberlingio", Francavilla Fontana 72100, Brindisi, Italy.
Giulia DeianaDepartment of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, Unit of General Surgery 2-Clinica Chirurgica, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy.
Maria G AliciccoUnit of Medical Oncology, A.O.U. Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy.
Chiara NinniriDepartment of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, Unit of General Surgery 2-Clinica Chirurgica, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy.
Anna N SantoroUnit of Medical Oncology, Hospital "D. Camberlingio", Francavilla Fontana 72100, Brindisi, Italy.
Antonio PazzolaUnit of Medical Oncology, A.O.U. Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy.
Alessandro FancelluDepartment of Medical, Surgical and Experimental Sciences, Unit of General Surgery 2-Clinica Chirurgica, University of Sassari, Sassari 07100, Italy. afancel@uniss.it.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAdjuvant chemotherapy is recommended in high-risk breast cancer. However, no universally accepted guidelines exist on pre-chemotherapy assessment. In particular, the number and frequency of medical visits vary according to each institution's policy. We hypothesised that the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) may have a favourable impact on the pre-treatment assessment in candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy.

aimTo investigate whether the ESAS can be used to safely reduce the number of medical visits in women with breast cancer undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy.

methodsIn a retrospectively prospective matched-pair analysis, 100 patients who completed the ESAS questionnaire before administration of adjuvant chemotherapy (ESAS Group) were compared with 100 patients who underwent chemotherapy according to the traditional modality, without ESAS (no-ESAS Group). Patients of the ESAS Group received additional visits before treatment if their ESAS score was > 3. The primary endpoint was the total number of medical visits during the entire duration of the chemotherapy period. The secondary endpoints were the occurrence of severe complications (grade 3-4) and the number of unplanned visits during the chemotherapy period.

resultsThe study variables did not statistically differ between patients of the ESAS Group and no-ESAS Group (age

conclusionThe ESAS score may safely reduce the number of medical visits in candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer. Our results suggest that the ESAS score may be used for selecting a group of breast cancer patients for whom it is safe to reduce the number of medical visits in the setting of adjuvant chemotherapy. This may translate into several advantages, such as a more rational utilization of human resources and a possible reduction of coronavirus pandemic infection risk in oncologic patients.

Indexed as

Adjuvant chemotherapyBreast cancerEdmonton system assessment scaleMedical visitsPatient-reported outcomes

Identifiers

PMID36157162
PMCPMC9346425

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.