Sometimes, as patients near the end of life, eliciting and fulfilling a simple wish can lead to acceptance and a peaceful death — a lesson absorbed by a physician during a week of ice cream.

In his first interview, new Bureau of Meteorology chief Stuart Minchin has revealed the eye-watering true cost of its lambasted new website.

SC administration of antibiotics may be useful in various settings such as in hospitalized patients and among those in long-term care facilities or being cared for at home. However, further clinical studies are needed to assess the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic properties, as well as the risks and …

Two palliative care clinicians provide the ins-and-outs of assessing and treating fatigue in patients with serious illness.

A new study reveals that as patients approach the end stages of their disease, cancer may exploit the body’s largest highways — infiltrating major blood vessels and unleashing clusters of tumor cells ...

Letter to the Editor: Levetiracetam as an Alternative for Refractory Confusional Syndromes: A Case Series

Here, Audrey Chagnot and Axel Montagne discuss the structural and functional features of the blood–brain barrier and the association of its disruption with various pathologies.

Moretti et al. show a gut bacterial consortium (L. mucosae and L. ruminis) producing serotonin, increasing fecal serotonin and enteric neuron density and normalizing intestinal motility in mice. Reduc...

Objectives The prevalence of analgesic opioid (AO) misuse among patients with cancer-related chronic pain remains poorly understood, and no screening tool has been validated for this population. The Prescription Opioid Misuse Index (POMI), an eight-item self-administered questionnaire, was developed for chronic non-cancer pain. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the POMI in a population of patients with chronic cancer-related pain. Methods This prospective observational psychometric study was conducted in two oncology day hospitals at the Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital. Eligible patients had active cancer, chronic pain lasting ≥ 3 months and were receiving daily opioid therapy. The POMI questionnaire was completed at inclusion (TEST) and 2 weeks later (RETEST). Psychometric properties were assessed following standard guidelines, including internal consistency, test–retest reliability and external validity using DSM-5 criteria for opioid use disorder as the reference standard. Results A total of 138 patients were included (58% men), with a mean age of 64 ± 10 years. Internal consistency of the POMI was low (Kuder–Richardson coefficient: 0.22). Test–retest reliability, assessed in 68 patients, showed moderate agreement (Lin’s concordance: 0.43 [0.24–0.63]). Correlation between POMI scores and DSM-5 criteria was modest (Spearman’s ρ = 0.25). According to the POMI, 11.6% of patients demonstrated opioid misuse versus 17.4% with DSM-5-defined use disorder. Conclusions The POMI lacks sufficient psychometric validity for use in oncology populations. Future tools should be specifically designed to address the clinical complexity and unique context of chronic cancer-related pain and opioid use.

Even though many years have passed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the effects of infection with SARS-CoV-2 are not completely understood.