ArticleJournal of pain and symptom management2012
The lack of standard definitions in the supportive and palliative oncology literature.
Article in Journal of pain and symptom management, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers, 7 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
51 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Defining end-of-life in glioblastoma multiforme: a systematic review.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Pediatric palliative care and end-of-life: a systematic review of economic health analyses.Revista paulista de pediatria : orgao oficial da Sociedade de Pediatria de Sao Paulo · 2022Pooled it
- Use and Meaning of "Goals of Care" in the Healthcare Literature: a Systematic Review and Qualitative Discourse Analysis.Journal of general internal medicine · 2020Pooled it
- To what degree is palliative care integrated in guidelines and pathways for adult cancer patients in Europe: a systematic literature review.BMC palliative care · 2016Pooled it
- Definition of supportive care: does the semantic matter?Current opinion in oncology · 2014Pooled it
- Concepts and definitions for "actively dying," "end of life," "terminally ill," "terminal care," and "transition of care": a systematic review.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2014Pooled it
- Concepts and definitions for "supportive care," "best supportive care," "palliative care," and "hospice care" in the published literature, dictionaries, and textbooks.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2013Pooled it
- Perceptions of palliative care among patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2016Trial
- Does it matter what you call it? A randomized trial of language used to describe palliative care services.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2013Trial
- Dentists' knowledge and practices in supportive care: a French national survey.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- The communication experiences of persons referred to specialist palliative care services and their carers: A descriptive phenomenological study.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Article
- Palliative care service provision and use among 2SLGBTQIA + individuals: a scoping review.BMC palliative care · 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
- The Duality of "Goals of Care" Language: A Qualitative Focus Group Study With Frontline Clinicians.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2023Article
- The Paradigm Shift from End of Life to Pre-Emptive Palliative Care in Patients with Cancer.Cancers · 2022Article
- Making room for life and death at the same time - a qualitative study of health and social care professionals' understanding and use of the concept of paediatric palliative care.BMC palliative care · 2022Article
- Successful Strategies and Areas of Improvement-Lessons Learned from Design and Conduction of a Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial in Palliative Care, 'Palliative-D'.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Sociodemographic Disparities in Access to Hospice and Palliative Care: An Integrative Review.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2021Review
- Development of an international Core Outcome Set (COS) for best care for the dying person: study protocol.BMC palliative care · 2020Article
- Supportive care in cancer-a MASCC perspective.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
contextMultiple organizations have raised concerns about the lack of standard definitions for terminology in the supportive and palliative oncology literature.
objectivesWe aimed to determine 1) the frequency of 10 commonly used terms in the supportive and palliative oncology literature, 2) the proportion of articles that provided definitions for each term, and 3) how each term was defined.
methodsWe systematically searched MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library, Embase, ISI Web of Science, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature for original studies, review articles, and systematic reviews related to palliative care and cancer in the first six months of 2004 and 2009. We counted the number of occurrences for "palliative care," "supportive care," "best supportive care," "hospice care," "terminal care," "end-of-life," "terminally ill," "goals of care," "actively dying," and "transition of care" in each article, reviewed them for the presence of definitions, and documented the journal characteristics.
resultsAmong the 1213 articles found, 678 (56%) were from 2009. "Palliative care" and "end-of-life" were the most frequently used terms. "Palliative care," "end-of-life," and "terminally ill" appeared more frequently in palliative care journals, whereas "supportive care" and "best supportive care" were used more often in oncology journals (P<0.001). Among 35 of 601 (6%) articles with a definition for "palliative care," there were 16 different variations (21 of 35 articles used the World Health Organization definition). "Hospice care" had 13 definitions among 13 of 151 (9%) articles. "Supportive care" and other terms were rarely defined (less than 5% of articles that used the term).
conclusionOur findings highlight the lack of definitional clarity for many important terms in the supportive and palliative oncology literature. Standard definitions are needed to improve administrative, clinical, and research operations.
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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.