SynthesisSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2012
The unfulfilled promise: a systematic review of interventions to reduce the unmet supportive care needs of cancer patients.
Synthesis in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 151 citations in OpenAlex.
- A mixed studies systematic review of the unmet treatment, support, and information needs of cancer survivors in managing menopause symptoms.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Pooled it
- Nursing care services to address unmet supportive care needs among cancer survivors: a systematic review.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Pooled it
- Feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of online supportive care for individuals living with and beyond lung cancer: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Pooled it
- Unmet care needs in people living with advanced cancer: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2016Pooled it
- Professional patient navigation in a hospital setting: a randomized controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2021Trial
- Outcomes of a randomized controlled trial assessing a smartphone Application to reduce unmet needs among people diagnosed with CancEr (ACE).Cancer medicine · 2020Trial
- Evaluation of a specialized oncology nursing supportive care intervention in newly diagnosed breast and colorectal cancer patients following surgery: a cluster randomized trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2018Trial
- A randomized clinical trial on the effectiveness of an intervention to treat psychological distress and improve quality of life after autologous stem cell transplantation.Annals of hematology · 2016Trial
- Trial
- Enhancing the experience of carers in the chemotherapy outpatient setting: an exploratory randomised controlled trial to test impact, acceptability and feasibility of a complex intervention co-designed by carers and staff.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2015Trial
- Unmet informational needs of patients with cancer: do clinicians know which patients are in need?Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Assessing Unmet Needs of Patients With Chronic Pain: The Development and Validation of the Needs Evaluation Questionnaire for Chronic Pain.Pain research & management · 2026Article
- Relationship Between Supportive Care Needs and Stigma in Women With Breast Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2025Article
- The effectiveness of nurse-led palliative care needs assessment on patients' quality of life and symptom burden: a systematic review.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2025Review
- Development and validation of a dual language needs assessment tool for people living with colorectal cancer (NeAT-CC).PloS one · 2025Article
- Constricting Gaps: Protocol development, implementation challenges and lessons learned for theContemporary clinical trials communications · 2024Article
- Virtual reality-based supportive care interventions for patients with cancer: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Review
- Operationalizing patient-centered cancer care in low- and middle-income countries.Cell reports. Medicine · 2024Review
- Validation of the Standardized Needs Evaluation Questionnaire in Polish Cancer Patients.Cancers · 2024Article
- A Critical Overview of the Construct of Supportive Care Need in the Cancer Literature: Definitions, Measures, Interventions and Future Directions for Research.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Review
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThis review aimed to examine (a) trends in the number of publications on unmet needs over time and (b) the effectiveness of interventions designed to reduce unmet needs among cancer patients.
methodsAn electronic literature search of Medline to explore trends in the number of publications on patients' unmet needs and an additional literature search of Medline, CINAHL, PsychINFO, and Web of Science databases to identify methodologically rigorous research trials that evaluated interventions to reduce unmet needs were conducted.
resultsPublications per year on unmet needs have increased over time, with most being on descriptive research. Nine relevant trials were identified. Six trials reported no intervention effect. Three trials reported that intervention participants had a lower number of unmet needs or lower unmet needs score, compared to control participants. Of these, one study found that the intervention group had fewer supportive care needs and lower mean depression scores; one study found that intervention participants with high problem-solving skills had fewer unmet needs at follow-up; and one study found an effect in favor of the intervention group on psychological need subscale scores.
conclusionsReasons for varying results across trials and the limited effectiveness of unmet needs interventions are more broadly discussed. These include inadequacies in psychometric rigor, problems with scoring methods, the use of ineffective interventions, and lack of adherence to intervention protocols.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.