Report 6th EAPC research congress - Glasgow, UK - 10 - 12 June 2010

Karen Forbes, UK and Dagny F. Haugen, NO

Pauline Kane, IRE

Palliative medicine – A learning opportunity for the undergraduate

Christiaan Rhodius, NL

Barriers in pain relief at the end of life according to physicians

Sabine Pleschberger, AU

Recognizing dying and end of life care coverage in German language medical and nursing textbooks

Henk Vrehen, NL

Have they changed their attitude in decision-making? Development and validation of an instrument to evaluate the effect of education in decision-making

Stephanie Stiel, DE

What has happened to palliative care over the time? Comparison of results from a representative surveys of 2004 and 2009

Miriam Johnson, UK

Thromboprophylaxis in the hospice inpatient population: A review of current practice

Carl Johan Fürst, SE and Michaela Bercovitch, IL

Lukas Radbruch, DE

The German process

H.Baumgartner, L.Pelttari-Stachl, H.Watzke

The current situation in Austria

P Poukka, T Korhonen, L Pylkkänen, and T Saarto

Project Document by The Finnish Association for Palliative Medicine

Michaela Bercovitch

The Israelis Palliative Care Project

Sauter S, Fürst CJ

The Swedish Budapest Commitment

Furio Zucco

Hospices network in Italy: an unpredictable growth

Pål Klepstad, NO and Franco de Conno, IT

Xavier Moisset, FR

Neuroimaging and neuropathic pain: Is neuroimaging an avenue for diagnosing neuropathic cancer pains?

Mike Bennett, UK

Signs and symptoms in neuropathic cancer pain: Inclusion criteria for clinical trials

Troels Staehelin Jensen, DK

Pharmacological treatment of neuropathic cancer pain: New basic principles and drugs within sight. What is the scientific evidence?

Sheila Payne, UK and Sabine Pleschberger, AT

Gunn Grande, UK

Research methodology

Peter Hudson, AU

Future research agenda

Gail Ewing, UK

Frontline’ research knowledge

Carl Johan Fürst, SE and Anthony Byrne, UK

Declan Walsh, US

Symptom clusters predict prognosis in advanced cancer

Aleksandra Modlińska, PO

Cancer related fatigue and style of coping with cancer in terminally ill patients

Marvin Delgado Guay, US

Domains involved in the expression of spiritual pain in patients with advanced cancer in the palliative care (PC) setting

Line Oldervoll, NO

Physical exercise in palliative care cancer patients – A phase II randomised clinical trial (RCT)

Eivor Laugsand, NO

Pharmacogenetics of nausea and vomiting in palliative patients treated with opioids

Bernd Alt-Epping, DE

Disease specific symptom prevalences in patients with lung cancer and pulmonary metastases - Staff assessment versus self assessment. Results from a multicenter survey

Julia Addington Hall, UK and Eduardo Bruera, US

Richard Stevens, UK

Geographical information systems (GIS) in palliative care: A systematic review

Saskia Jünger, DE

Consensus building on European standards and norms for palliative care

Paul Glare, US

Screening hospitalized GI oncology patients for palliative care referral using the NCCN palliative care guideline: preliminary study

David Currow, AUS

How do we communicate generalizability in clinical research papers in palliative care?

Declan Walsh, US

Phase angle is a better predictor of survival than muscle mass in advanced cancer

Delcan Walsh, US

Force perception, effort, strength and dynamic muscle function in cancer-related fatigue (CRF)

Jane Seymour, UK and Augusto Caraceni, IT

Kenneth Chambaere, BE

Continuous deep sedation until death in different care settings in Belgium: A nationwide survey

Melissa Carlson, US

Geographic access to hospice in the United States

Christoph Wiese, DE

International survey of concepts in prehospital emergency treatment of palliative care patients – A prospectively international questionnaire-based study

David Casarett, US

What is the impact of palliative care teams? A nationwide study to understand and reduce the variation in specialized palliative care

Filipa Tavares, PT

Non-drug prescribing patterns in advanced cancer patients dying in general medical wards

Koen Meeussen, BE

Advance care planning in Belgium and the Netherlands: A nationwide comparative study via sentinel networks of general practitioners

Bill Noble, UK

Declan Walsh, US

Symptom clusters: Fact or fiction?

Geana Kurita, DK

Abstract plenary 3 – Prevalence and predictors of cognitive dysfunction in opioid treated cancer patients

Vickie Baracos , CA and Ken Fearon, UK

Eduardo Bruera, US

What are the challenges on diagnosis and treatment of cachexia from a clinical perspective?

Florian Strasser, CH

Classification of cachexia: Any improvements to expect?

Benjamin Tan, UK

Is there a genetic predisposition to cachexia?

Lukas Radbruch, DE and Robin Fainsinger, CA

Robin Fainsinger, CA

Place of death, a valid outcome from a clinical and health care provider perspective?

Luc Deliens, BE

Place of death as an outcome in clinical and epidemiological studies, challenges and limitations

Lukas Radbruch, DE

Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, where is the research frontier today? A topical review

Sheila Payne, UK and Peter Hudson, AUS

Aine Greene, AUS

Can activating support networks and caregiver assessment make a difference?

Catherine Burns, AUS

The provision of ‘hands on’ care for aged people dying from chronic disease – Findings from a SA population health survey

Monika Führer, DE

The interface between curative and palliative care in children with failed stem cell transplants

Saskia Jünger, GE

Coordination of paediatric palliative home care services

Susanne Inglin, CH

Parents caring for a child with a life-limiting illness: An assessment of dyadic coping and personal growth

Barry Laird, UK and Mike Bennett, UK

Cinzia Brunelli

Content of a future classification system for cancer pain

Cheryl Nekolaichuk, CA

A multicentre study of advanced cancer patients’ categorizations of pain intensity

Maria Nabal, ES

Revising the EAPC recommendations on opioids in cancer pain: The roll for NSAID as adjuvant analgesics. A systematic literature review

Kristin Moksnes, NO

How to switch from Morphine or Oxycodone to Methadone in cancer patients? A randomised clinical phase II trial

Marie Fallon, UK

Fentanyl pectin nasal spray provides clinically meaningful pain relief and a more rapid onset of analgesia compared with immediate-release Morphine sulphate in breakthrough cancer pain

Jerzy Jarosz, DE

Pan-European phase IV open-label multicentre study of the titration of Fentanyl Buccal tablets (FBT) in patients with breakthrough cancer pain (BTcP)

Nina Aass, NO

Advanced cancer patients’ opinion on classification of cancer pain

Christoph Ostgathe, DE and Paul Glare, US

Jennifer Philip, AUS

Using administrative datasets to assist prognostication in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Simone Veronese, IT

Specialist palliative care service for people severely affected by neurodegenerative conditions: does this make a difference to palliative care outcomes? Results of Nepal - an explorative randomized controlled trial

Jennifer Philip, AUS

The development of a model of prognostication for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Tariq Saleem, UK

Symptom prevalence and severity of non-motor symptoms in people affected by advanced Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. Can palliative care help?

Jennifer Philip, AUS

A qualitative exploration of information needs and treatment preferences: The views of patients with severe COPD and their health care professionals

Richard Harding, UK

Would patients presenting for outpatient HIV care in East Africa benefit from palliative care? Findings from an international 12 centre study

Neil Hagen, CA and Stein Kaasa, NO

Sean Morrison, US

USA

Neil Hagen, CA

How to improve international collaborations in palliative care research: the Canadian Experience

Stein Kaasa, NO

Europe

Cynthia Goh, Singapore

Asia

Jorge Eisenchlas, AR

Latin America

Richard A. Powell, UG

Improving international collaboration: Consortium model the way forward in Africa

David Currow, AU

Australia

Robin Fainsinger, CAN, Mogens Groenvold, DK

Hideya Kokubun, JP

Population pharmacokinetic analysis of transdermal Fentanyl in Japanese patients with cancer pain

Chen Hsiu Chen, TAI

Patient-perceived barriers for cancer pain management between Western and Eastern cultures－A systematic review by meta-analysis

Luis Torres, ES

Fentanyl Pectin Nasal Spray delivers consistent and reliable effects in the treatment of breakthrough cancer pain: results from a long-term study

Johan De Raaf, NL

Differences in fatigue experiences between advanced cancer patients and cancer survivors

Franco De Conno, IT

Randomised phase III clinical trial of 5 different arms of treatment for patients with cancer-related anorexia/cachexia syndrome (CACS)

Heather Davies, UK

Suffering: A study to explore palliative care nurse specialists understanding

Carlos Centeno, ES

Matthew Maddocks, UK

Acceptability of the SPARC© Questionnaire for identifying supportive and palliative care needs in people with a recent diagnosis of thoracic cancer

Denise Marshall, CA

The Team Observed Structured Clinical Encounter (TOSCE): An assessment tool for team and interprofessional competencies in palliative care and primary care

Sivakumar Subramaniam, UK

Prognosis prediction by palliative prognostic index in UK hospice inpatients: A multi centre prospective study

Marie Fallon, UK and Florian Strasser, CH

Asta Bye, NO

Energy Intake and Estimated Energy Needs in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer: Important for Weight-loss?

Kathleen Leemans, BE

Symptoms and Problems in the Final Week of Life in Primary Care in Belgium

Steffen Simon, DE

Is Breathlessness what the Patient Says it Is? A German National Survey Comparing Patient and Proxy Assessments

Ellen de Nijs, NL

More Insight into the Relation between Anxiety and Symptoms in the Continuum of Cancer Care

Lukas Radbruch, DE

Fish Oil for the Treatment of Cancer Cachexia: A Systematic Review for the EPCRC

Peter Nieland, DE

Dyspnoea and its Management by Physiotherapy in Palliative Care Patients

Carlos Centeno, ES and Katherine Froggatt, UK

David Currow, AUS

Providing infrastructure to conduct multi-site research within palliative care – Learnings from the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC)

Lucy Selman, UK

Caring for diversity: The development of evidence-based spiritual care recommendations for people from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups

Alberto Alonso-Babarro, ES

The association between inpatient feath, utilization of hospital resources and availability of palliative home care for cancer patients in an urban region of Spain

Carl Johan Fürst, SE

Specialised palliative care in Stockholm – Coverage and organisation of services

Thomas Lynch, UK

Opportunities for the development of palliative care across Europe

Nic Hughes, UK

Living with cancer in Old Age: Experiences of men and women aged 75 and older in the North West of England

Andrew Wilcock, UK and Mogens Groenvold, DK

Augusto Caraceni, IT

EAPC Pain Guidelines: setting a research agenda

Melissa Carlson, US

Research strategies for building the evidence base in Palliative Care

Julia Riley, UK

The Research Agenda: conducting clinical trials in the palliative care setting

David Clark, UK and Javier Rocafort, ES

Carlos Centeno, ES

Mapping the palliative care access across Europe

Irene Higginson, UK

Epidemiological and other relevant research designs

David Currow, AU

Comparative intervention studies

Cinzia Brunelli, IT and Jon Håvard Loge, NO

David Blum, CH

Cancer cachexia assessment and classification: Testing of items and domains defining cachexia in patients with incurable cancer

Gwenda Albers, NL

Evaluation of quality-of-life measures for use in palliative care: A systematic review

Jaana Kaleva-Kerola, FI

Doc, do I have less than six months? A new clinical tool to predict long-term survival of patients with advanced solid cancers

Antonio Vigano, CA

Beyond the tip of the iceberg: The human cancer cachexia database

Daryl Bainbridge, CA

Palliative care system factors associated with variations of acute care resource utilization by cancer patients in the last 6 months of life

Eivor Laugsand, NO

Health care providers underestimate symptom intensities of cancer patients receiving palliative care

Bill Noble, UK and Nathan Cherny, IS

Elaine Wittenberg-Lyles, US

Assessing hospice team process, structure, and outcomes when informal caregivers are present

Lauren Rayner, UK

Antidepressants for treatment of depression in palliative care: A meta-analysis

Christina Ramsenthaler, DE

Core attitudes in palliative care: Acceptance as the key element

Jane B. Hopkinson, UK

The effect of psychosocial intervention for cancer patient – carer dyads on symptom experience: A systematic literature review

Natalie Evans, ES

Communication and minority ethnic groups: The British experience

Gunn Grande, UK

The predictors and impact of coping strategies of patients with advanced cancer

Javier Rocafort, ES

Marianne Jensen Hjermstad, NO

Assessment tools for frequent symptoms in cancer- are we satisfied with those available?

Steffen Simon, DE

Abstract plenary 4 - Characteristics of patients with breathlessness - A German national survey on palliative care in-patient units

Amy Abernethy, US

Abstract plenary 5 – Comparison of dyspnea scores when patients self-report their symptoms using a numerical rating scale vs. a categorical verbal scale

Amy Abernethy, US and Mike Bennett, UK

Scott Murray, UK

Concept of characteristic trajectories; physical vs spiritual trajectories

Claudia Bausewein, DE

Mapping trajectories and transitions in the last year of life

Massimo Costantini, IT

Research challenges and methodologies that can help to identify triggers e.g. longitudinal methods to capture information around transitions

Mari Lloyd-Williams, UK and Elisabet Wasteson, NO

Jon Håvard Loge, NO

Assessment of depression in palliative care: lessons from the EPCRC projects

Mari Lloyd-Williams, UK

Anxiety and depression – separate or concordant entities?

Marie Fallon, UK

Depression in Cancer

Bee Wee, UK and Andrew Davies, UK

Sally Boa, UK

An investigation of goal setting and rehabilitation in palliative care

David Casarett, US

Using imagination at the bedside: Do metaphors improve communication?

Pam J. Kaspers, NL

A good deathbed: Wishes of the public and people with an advance directive

Marie-Jose Gijsberts, NL

Defining spirituality at the end of life: Modelling measurable aspects

Clare Gardiner, UK

Management of palliative care in acute hospitals: Findings from a qualitative study with medical and nursing staff in the UK

Dirk Houttekier, BE

Place of death of older persons with dementia. A study in five European countries

Patrick Stone, UK and Peter Lawlor, CA

Augusto Caraceni, IT

Is oral morphine still the first choice opioid for of moderate to Severe cancer pain? A systematic review within the EPCRC Opioid Guidelines Project

Cheryl Nekolaichuk, CA

A predictive model for identifying complex cancer pain syndromes in patients referred to specialist palliative care services using a pain classification system

Monica Escher, CH

Why do nurses fail “to Rescue” their patients? Difficulties encountered by nurses in the administration of opioid rescue doses

Peter Lawlor, CA

An international pain classification study: What are the differences in cancer pain classification across diverse palliative care sites?

Sophy Gretton, UK and Cynthia Goh, Singapore

Sean Morrison, US

Developing the knowledge and skills to become the new generation of investigators: What is important for junior researchers and the role of mentorship

Joy Ross, UK

Getting started in research; choosing a topic for research and how to write a successful research proposal/application

Stein Kaasa, NO

International collaboration within palliative care research: What junior researchers can gain from participating in international research and how to get involved

Cinzia Brunelli, IT

A young researcher's perspective on the participation in an international research programme

Sheila Payne, UK and Claudia Bausewein, DE

Jane Gibbins, UK

Why do newly qualified doctors feel unprepared to care for patients at the end of life?

Karen Steinhauser, US

Quality of life, emotional well being and functional status of patients with cancer, CHF, and COPD: Does diagnosis matter or is sick, Sick?

Georg Bollig, NO

Implementation of ethics support in nursing homes and primary care – What does health personnel want?

Kasper Raus, BE

Deep continuous sedation as a preferable alternative to physician-assisted death? Some ethical thoughts

Elena Vvedenskaya, RUS

End-of-life care communication barriers for doctors and patients with advanced HIV disease

Donna Wilson, CA

Transitions in the last year of life to access health care

Nikki Mc Caffrey, AUS

Grappling with economic evaluation in palliative care - A promising foothold

Katrin Sigurdardottir, NO

A Survey of End-of-Life Cancer Care Research in Europe

Wesley Too, UK

Palliative care for people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda: An investigation of patients & caregivers’ outcomes and professional perspectives

Bridget Johnston, UK and Maria Nabal, ES

Marianne Jensen Hjermstad, NO

Comparisons of Numerical Rating Scales (NRS), Verbal Rating Scales (VRS) and Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) for assessment of pain intensity – Which is the preferred scale?

Elisabet Wasteson, NO

Expert and patient evaluation of the DSM-IV depression criteria for their relevance in palliative care

Wendy Oldenmenger, NL

Cutoff points for mild/moderate pain, clinically clear?

Joan Teno, US

Does hospice improve the quality of care for persons dying with dementia?

Karen Bullock, US

End-of-life care preferences for older African Americans: A Community-based exploration

Ruth Branford, UK

Genetic polymorphisms in interleukin-6 and -10 Do not influence daily Morphine dose or analgesic response in cancer pain

Julia Addington Hall, UK and Jane Seymour, UK

Friedemann Nauck, De

Don’t get me wrong! Advance directives in Germany – A qualitative study

Tinne Smets, BE

Medical decisions at the end of life in Flanders, Belgium - A nationwide post-mortem survey of euthanasia cases reported and unreported to the federal Review Committee

Hilde Buiting, NL

Speaking about palliative treatment alternatives in the context of an explicit patient request

Jan Oyebode, UK

Influences of religion and culture on continuing bonds after bereavement

Ilora Finlay, UK

The burden of bereaved children in society

Tove Bylund Grenklo, SE

Lack of trust in the health care provided to a dying parent: Psychological morbidity in bereaved teenage daughters

Tinne Smets, BE

Physicians’ opinions towards medical decisions at the end of life: A Nationwide Survey in Belgium

Sheila Payne, UK

Joachim Cohen

Population based methodologies to study place of death