S. Robin Cohen
McGill University
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Featured researches published by S. Robin Cohen.
Palliative Medicine | 1995
S. Robin Cohen; Balfour M. Mount; Michael G Strobel
This is the first report on the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL), a questionnaire relevant to all phases of the disease trajectory for people with a life-threatening illness. This questionnaire differs from most others in three ways: the existential domain is measured; the physical domain is important but not predominant; positive contributions to quality of life are measured. This study was conducted in a palliative care setting. Principal components analysis suggests four subscales: physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, outlook on life, and meaningful existence. Construct validity of the subscales is demonstrated through the pattern of correlations with the items from the Spitzer Quality of Life Index. The importance of measuring the existential domain is highlighted by the finding that, of all the MQOL subscales and Spitzer items, only the meaningful existence subscale correlated significantly with a single item scale rating overall quality of life.
Palliative Medicine | 1997
S. Robin Cohen; Balfour M. Mount; Eduardo Bruera; Marcel Provost; Jocelyn Rowe; Kevin Tong
This study was carried out in eight palliative care services in four Canadian cities. A revised version of The McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL) is compared to a single-item scale measuring overall quality of life (SIS), and the self-administered version of the Spitzer Quality of Life Index (SA-QLI), to obtain evidence of validity. MQOL total score predicts SIS better than does SA-QLI, although much of the variance remains to be explained. The results of principal components analysis of data using this revised version of MQOL are similar to those from previous MQOL studies with different patient populations. The MQOL subscales, constructed on the basis of principal components analysis, demonstrate acceptable internal consistency reliability. The MQOL measures reflecting physical well-being and existential well-being are important for predicting SIS.
Cancer | 1996
S. Robin Cohen; F.R.C.S. Balfour M. Mount M.D.; F B A Lauren Mount
The McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL) is being developed to correct what we perceive to be a flaw in existing quality of life instruments: neglect of the existential domain.
AIDS | 1996
S. Robin Cohen; S Ansar Hassan; Bernard Lapointe; Balfour M. Mount
Objective:To test the acceptability, validity, and internal consistency reliability of the McGill quality of life questionnaire (MQOL) for persons living with HIV/AIDS. Design:The validity of MQOL was tested by having HIV-seropositive outpatients complete the 16-item MQOL, a single-item scale (SIS) measuring overall quality of life (QOL), and a physical symptom questionnaire. Methods:Factor analysis was used as a guide for construction of MQOL subscales. Validity was studied by determining the correlation between MQOL and SIS, and between MQOL physical measures, CD4 counts and the physical symptoms questionnaire. Multiple regression was employed to determine how best to combine MQOL subscales to predict SIS. Results:MQOL was acceptable to this patient population. Factor analysis suggests that MQOL can be represented by five measures: a single item measuring physical well-being and four subscales representing physical symptoms, psychological symptoms, existential well-being, and support. Multiple regression analyses suggest that the existential domain contributes greatly to QOL for people with advanced HIV disease (CD4 counts < 100×106/l). Conclusion:MQOL is an acceptable and valid measure of QOL for people living with HIV/AIDS, with meaningful and reliable subscales as well as a summary score. The inclusion of a measure of existential well-being in MQOL may make it a more valid measure of QOL, especially for people with advanced disease, than QOL instruments which do not include this domain.
Brain Research | 1985
S. Robin Cohen; Ronald Melzack
Microinjection of morphine into the area of the habenula and dorsal posteromedial thalamus (H-PMT) produces analgesia for tonic pain as measured by the formalin test in the rat. Control injections of morphine into sites near the H-PMT result in less or no reduction in pain, indicating that the analgesia observed is probably due to a site of action within the H-PMT rather than at surrounding neural structures. The analgesia is fully developed by the first time of testing, 10-16 min following the microinjection, and is completely reversible by naloxone, an opiate antagonist. The analgesia recorded is most likely due to morphines action on the habenula, parafascicular or paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus, or a combination of these structures.
Canadian Medical Association Journal | 2010
Daren K. Heyland; Deborah J. Cook; Graeme Rocker; Peter Dodek; Demetrios J. Kutsogiannis; Yoanna Skrobik; Xuran Jiang; Andrew Day; S. Robin Cohen
Background: High-quality end-of-life care should be the right of every Canadian. The objective of this study was to identify aspects of end-of-life care that are high in priority as targets for improvement using feedback elicited from patients and their families. Methods: We conducted a multicentre, cross-sectional survey involving patients with advanced, life-limiting illnesses and their family caregivers. We administered the Canadian Health Care Evaluation Project (CANHELP) questionnaire along with a global rating question to measure satisfaction with end-of-life care. We derived the relative importance of individual questions on the CANHELP questionnaire from their association with a global rating of satisfaction, as determined using Pearson correlation coefficients. To determine high-priority issues, we identified questions that had scores indicating high importance and low satisfaction. Results: We approached 471 patients and 255 family members, of whom 363 patients and 193 family members participated, with response rates of 77% for patients and 76% for families. From the perspective of patients, high-priority areas needing improvement were related to feelings of peace, to assessment and treatment of emotional problems, to physician availability and to satisfaction that the physician took a personal interest in them, communicated clearly and consistently, and listened. From the perspective of family members, similar areas were identified as high in priority, along with the additional areas of timely information about the patient’s condition and discussions with the doctor about final location of care and use of end-of-life technology. Interpretation: End-of-life care in Canada may be improved for patients and their families by providing better psychological and spiritual support, better planning of care and enhanced relationships with physicians, especially in aspects related to communication and decision-making.
Psycho-oncology | 2010
Melissa Henry; S. Robin Cohen; Virginia Lee; Philippe Sauthier; Diane Provencher; Pierre Drouin; Philippe Gauthier; Walter H. Gotlieb; Susie Lau; Nancy Drummond; Lucy Gilbert; Gerald Stanimir; Jeremy Sturgeon; Martin Chasen; Julie Mitchell; Lina Nuoxin Huang; Mira-Klode Ferland; Nancy E. Mayo
Objective: This pilot study aimed to provide supportive evidence for the acceptability and usefulness of the Meaning‐Making intervention (MMi) in patients newly diagnosed with Stage III or IV ovarian cancer, and to provide estimates of parameters needed to design a full‐scale study.
Cancer | 2000
S. Robin Cohen; Balfour M. Mount
To determine the impact of care on quality of life (QOL), or to detect a change in QOL over time, measures of QOL must remain stable when QOL is stable (test–retest reliability) and change when QOL changes (responsiveness). This study addresses these issues for the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire (MQOL). Unlike other studies that use disease status to indicate whether QOL has remained stable or changed, in this study the patient determines QOL stability or change. The authors also sought to clarify the determinants of “good” and “bad” days for oncology patients.
Neuroscience Letters | 1986
S. Robin Cohen; Ronald Melzack
Electrical stimulation of the habenula produces a striking reduction of continuous, formalin-induced pain in the rat. The analgesia occurs at current levels which do not appear aversive and persists for variable durations, ranging from 1 to 21 min in this experimental situation. The effect is not blocked by subcutaneous administration of a large dose of naloxone prior to the stimulation, indicating that it is not dependent on an opiate-sensitive system. Stimulation of the adjacent paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus was either aversive or had no effect on the pain scores. The anatomical connections of the habenula suggest that it may mediate the interaction of limbic forebrain structures with midbrain structures known to play a role in pain and analgesia.
Palliative Medicine | 2008
Kelli Stajduhar; Diane E. Allan; S. Robin Cohen; Daren K. Heyland
Previous studies involving palliative patients suggest a preference for dying at home. The purpose of this paper is to examine, prospectively, patient and family caregiver preferences for, and congruence with, location of death for hospitalized patients with cancer and end-stage medical conditions. Questionnaires were administered to 440 eligible in-patients and 160 family caregivers in five hospitals across Canada. This paper reports results of 138 patient/family caregiver dyads who answered a question about preference for location of death. The results suggest that only half of all patients and family caregivers report a preference for a home death. Furthermore, half of the patient/family caregiver dyads disagree on preferred location of death. If one of the primary goals of end of life care is to enhance the quality of life of dying patients and their family caregivers, policies directed towards ensuring that patients die in their location of choice ought to be a priority and resources should be allocated to promote the development of excellent care, not only in the home, but also within our institutional settings. Palliative Medicine 2008; 22: 85—88