Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25925664›Full record

SynthesisBMC research notes2015

Palliative care in South Asia: a systematic review of the evidence for care models, interventions, and outcomes.

Taranjit Singh, Richard Harding

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC research notes, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–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

25 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. What Is a Good Death in South Asia? A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis.Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing · 2025
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  9. Integrating palliative care into primary healthcare systems: Advocacy efforts, milestones and challenges in Asia.Malaysian family physician : the official journal of the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia · 2024
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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

2 authors.

Taranjit SinghDepartment of Medical Oncology & Haematology, Artemis Health Sciences Institute, Sector 51, Gurgaon, Haryana, 122001, India. drtjsingh@gmail.com.
Richard HardingDepartment of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, King's College London, Cicely Saunders Institute, London, UK. richard.harding@kcl.ac.uk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe increasing incidence of cancer and chronic diseases in South Asia has created a growing public health and clinical need for palliative care in the region. As an emerging discipline with increasing coverage, palliative care must be guided by evidence. In order to appraise the state of the science and inform policy and best practice in South Asia this study aimed to systematically review the evidence for palliative care models, interventions, and outcomes.

resultsThe search identified only 16 articles, reporting a small range of services. The 16 articles identified India as having greatest number of papers (n = 14) within South Asia, largely focused in the state of Kerala. Nepal and Pakistan reported a single study each, with nothing from Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives or Bangladesh. Despite the large population of South Asia, we found only 4 studies reporting intervention outcomes, with the remaining reporting service descriptions (n = 12).

conclusionsThe dearth of evidence in terms of palliative care outcomes, and the lack of data from beyond India, highlight the urgent need for greater research investment and activity to guide the development of feasible, acceptable, appropriate and effective palliative care services. There is some evidence that suggests implementation of successful and well-developed community based models of palliative care may be replicated in other resource limited settings. Greater investigation to determine outcomes and costs are urgently needed, and require well-designed and validated tools to measure outcomes. Studies are also needed to better understand the cultural context of death and dying for patients and their families in South Asia, and to respond to the growing need for palliative and end-of-life care in the region.

Indexed as

Evidence-Based MedicineModels, NursingOutcome Assessment, Health CarePalliative CareIndia

Identifiers

PMID25925664
PMCPMC4422038

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.