TY - JOUR
T1 - Potentially inappropriate end-of-life care and its association with relatives’ well-being
T2 - a systematic review
AU - Ham, Laurien
AU - Slotman, Ellis
AU - Burghout, Carolien
AU - Raijmakers, Natasja Jh
AU - van de Poll-Franse, Lonneke V.
AU - van Zuylen, Lia
AU - Fransen, Heidi P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2023/12/1
Y1 - 2023/12/1
N2 - Purpose: Potentially inappropriate end-of-life cancer care (e.g., frequent hospital admission and emergency room visits in the last month of life) is known to be associated with a poorer quality of life of patients, but research on its association with the well-being of relatives is scarce. The aim of this systematic literature review was to evaluate the association between potentially inappropriate end-of-life cancer care and relatives’ well-being. Methods: We conducted a systematic search and review, and reported according to the PRISMA guideline, on the association between potentially inappropriate end-of-life cancer care and well-being of relatives before and after the death of their loved one. Pubmed, PsycInfo, Embase, and CINAHL were searched for studies published from January 2000 to July 2022. Studies’ quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Checklists from the Joanne Briggs Institute (JBI). Results: We identified eight studies including 10,062 relatives (59–79% female, mean age 46–61 years, 29–72% partner). Potentially inappropriate end-of-life cancer care was associated with poorer well-being of relatives including lower quality of life, higher burden of depressive symptoms, more regret, and more feelings of unpreparedness for the patient’s death. Conclusion: Potentially inappropriate cancer care at the end-of-life is associated with poorer well-being of relatives before and after the death of their loved one. This emphasizes the importance of avoiding potentially inappropriate end-of-life cancer care, as it is both associated with poorer outcomes for relatives and patients. However, the number of studies examining this association is small, and more research is needed in this area.
AB - Purpose: Potentially inappropriate end-of-life cancer care (e.g., frequent hospital admission and emergency room visits in the last month of life) is known to be associated with a poorer quality of life of patients, but research on its association with the well-being of relatives is scarce. The aim of this systematic literature review was to evaluate the association between potentially inappropriate end-of-life cancer care and relatives’ well-being. Methods: We conducted a systematic search and review, and reported according to the PRISMA guideline, on the association between potentially inappropriate end-of-life cancer care and well-being of relatives before and after the death of their loved one. Pubmed, PsycInfo, Embase, and CINAHL were searched for studies published from January 2000 to July 2022. Studies’ quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Checklists from the Joanne Briggs Institute (JBI). Results: We identified eight studies including 10,062 relatives (59–79% female, mean age 46–61 years, 29–72% partner). Potentially inappropriate end-of-life cancer care was associated with poorer well-being of relatives including lower quality of life, higher burden of depressive symptoms, more regret, and more feelings of unpreparedness for the patient’s death. Conclusion: Potentially inappropriate cancer care at the end-of-life is associated with poorer well-being of relatives before and after the death of their loved one. This emphasizes the importance of avoiding potentially inappropriate end-of-life cancer care, as it is both associated with poorer outcomes for relatives and patients. However, the number of studies examining this association is small, and more research is needed in this area.
KW - Cancer
KW - End-of-life
KW - Potentially inappropriate care
KW - Relatives
KW - Systematic review
KW - Well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178850393&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-08198-0
DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-08198-0
M3 - Review article
C2 - 38055062
SN - 0941-4355
VL - 31
JO - Supportive Care in Cancer
JF - Supportive Care in Cancer
IS - 12
M1 - 731
ER -