Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38560745›Full record

ArticlePalliative medicine reports2024

Use of Dexamethasone for Severe Fatigue in the Advanced Cancer Population: A Brief Report.

Gemma Ingham, Kat Urban, Yinyin Phyo, Jane Hunt, Penelope Tuffin, Davinia Seah

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Palliative medicine reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 41% of its field
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

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

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

0 citing papers in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Gemma InghamDepartment of Palliative Care, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4503-0249
Kat UrbanDepartment of Palliative Care, Lismore Base Hospital, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.
Yinyin PhyoCentre for Improving Palliative, Aged, and Chronic Care Through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT), University of Technology, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Jane HuntCentre for Improving Palliative, Aged, and Chronic Care Through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT), University of Technology, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Penelope TuffinPalliative Care Program, Pharmacist WA Country Health Service, Western Australia.
Davinia SeahCentre for Improving Palliative, Aged, and Chronic Care Through Clinical Research and Translation (IMPACCT), University of Technology, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
University of Technology Sydney · AUFiona Stanley Hospital · AULismore Base Hospital · AUPrince of Wales Hospital · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Fatigue is a common and distressing symptom for palliative care patients. Although the current literature emphasizes nonpharmacological management, dexamethasone is reportedly used in clinical practice. This study helps to characterize its use, efficacy, and adverse effects in a real-world setting. Objective: To improve the evidence base by exploring the use, efficacy, and side effect profile of dexamethasone for fatigue management. Methods: This international multisite prospective observational case series assessed the benefit and adverse effects of dexamethasone at baseline (T0) and at five to seven days postbaseline (T1). Fatigue scores were assessed using the symptom assessment scale (SAS) and visual analogue fatigue scale (VAFS). Adverse events were graded using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI-CTCAE). The related samples Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare before and after scores. Results: All 18 patients (male-female, 11:7) had advanced metastatic cancer with most in the deteriorating palliative care phase (56%). The most common dose of dexamethasone was 4 mg daily orally. At T1 ( Conclusion: The small number of participants recruited for this study suggests that dexamethasone is not widely used specifically for fatigue. Our results suggest an improvement in fatigue scores from T0 to T1.

Indexed as

adverse eventsdexamethasonefatiguepalliative care

Identifiers

PMID38560745
PMCPMC10979672
OpenAlexW4392799857

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 OpenQuestion graph.