Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42553424›Full record

ArticlePalliative medicine reports

Developing a Symptom Toolkit for Adult Lymphoma Patients Receiving Chemotherapy in Malawi.

Alyssa E Tilly, April Evans, Maria Chikasema, Jane S Chen, Selena Kleber, Katherine Westmoreland

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In one paragraph

Article in Palliative medicine reports. 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
–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

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.

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.

Alyssa E TillyDepartment of Medicine, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9670-9297
April EvansDepartment of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Roger Maris Cancer Center, Fargo, North Dakota, USA.
Maria ChikasemaUNC Project-Malawi, Lilongwe, Malawi.
Jane S ChenDepartment of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Selena KleberUNC Project-Malawi, Lilongwe, Malawi.
Katherine WestmorelandDepartment of Pediatrics, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Lymphoma is one of the most common cancers affecting young adults in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet survival outcomes lag far behind those in high-resource settings. A significant contributor to these disparities is treatment abandonment, driven by limited access to essential palliative care support and lack of symptom management medications. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and early uptake of a Symptom Toolkit intervention to support symptom recognition and self-management. Methods: We designed and implemented a novel, low-cost, culturally appropriate Symptom Toolkit into an oncology clinic in Malawi. The toolkit included nurse-delivered patient education and take-home essential therapies targeting high-burden symptoms, including pain, nausea and vomiting, insomnia, gastritis, mucositis, and constipation, with pictorial labels and a journal to record use. Included therapies were selected based on local clinical guidelines and availability. At follow-up visits, a palliative care nurse completed survey assessments and distributed new Symptom Toolkits, noting both symptom occurrence and rates of medication use. Results: A total of 65 patients with lymphoma (median age 39) participated, including individuals with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Burkitt lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and Hodgkin's lymphoma. Across the 602 toolkit reports completed, use of symptom-directed medications increased over time, indicating improved uptake and engagement with the intervention. Conclusions: This pilot intervention demonstrates the feasibility of a nurse-delivered Symptom Toolkit as a means to enhance symptom recognition and self-management in a low-resource oncology setting. Further evaluation of the Toolkit in future studies will assess its impact on symptom burden and quality of life.

Indexed as

low-resource settingsoncologypalliative caresymptom management

Identifiers

PMID42553424
PMCPMC13434084

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