ReviewPsycho-oncology2017
The experiences of caregivers of patients with delirium, and their role in its management in palliative care settings: an integrative literature review.
Review in Psycho-oncology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
50 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 151 citations in OpenAlex.
- Components and effects of psychosocial support interventions for relatives of patients with delirium in hospitals, systematic review.BMC geriatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological interventions for preventing delirium in hospitalised non-ICU patients.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Delirium-related distress in the ICU: A qualitative meta-synthesis of patient and family perspectives and experiences.International journal of nursing studies · 2021Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological interventions for preventing delirium in hospitalised non-ICU patients.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- The experience of delirium in palliative care settings for patients, family, clinicians and volunteers: A qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis.Palliative medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Risk Factors for Delirium in the Palliative Care Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Drug therapy for delirium in terminally ill adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Personalized sedation goal for agitated delirium in patients with cancer: Balancing comfort and communication.Cancer · 2021Trial
- Investigating speech and language impairments in delirium: A preliminary case-control study.PloS one · 2018Trial
- Article
- Delirium severity trajectories and survival outcome in palliative care patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Driving innovation in cancer symptom science through translational research: bridging science and practice.Current opinion in supportive and palliative care · 2026Review
- Delirium in the Acute Care Setting From the Families Perspective: A Scoping Review.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Article
- Intravenous haloperidol or chlorpromazine-which is more effective to improve agitation and communication in agitated delirium at the end of life?The oncologist · 2025Article
- A Cross-Sectional Study of Online Survey Respondents' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Delirium.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- Development and validation of the Terminal Delirium-Related Distress Scale - Shortform.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Article
- What are the experiences and support needs of district nurses caring for terminally ill people with delirium at home? A qualitative study.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- Prediction model for delirium in advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care: development and validation.BMC palliative care · 2025Observational
- Disparities in Delirium across the Continuum of Care and Associations with Social Determinants of Health.Seminars in neurology · 2024Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo explore the experiences of caregivers of terminally ill patients with delirium, to determine the potential role of caregivers in the management of delirium at the end of life, to identify the support required to improve caregiver experience and to help the caregiver support the patient.
methodsFour electronic databases were searched-PsychInfo, Medline, Cinahl and Scopus from January 2000 to July 2015 using the terms 'delirium', 'terminal restlessness' or 'agitated restlessness' combined with 'carer' or 'caregiver' or 'family' or 'families'. Thirty-three papers met the inclusion criteria and remained in the final review.
resultsPapers focused on (i) caregiver experience-distress, deteriorating relationships, balancing the need to relieve suffering with desire to communicate and helplessness versus control; (ii) the caregiver role-detection and prevention of delirium, symptom monitoring and acting as a patient advocate; and (iii) caregiver support-information needs, advice on how to respond to the patient, interventions to improve caregiver outcomes and interventions delivered by caregivers to improve patient outcomes.
conclusionHigh levels of distress are experienced by caregivers of patients with delirium. Distress is heightened because of the potential irreversibility of delirium in palliative care settings and uncertainty around whether the caregiver-patient relationship can be re-established before death. Caregivers can contribute to the management of patient delirium. Additional intervention studies with informational, emotional and behavioural components are required to improve support for caregivers and to help the caregiver support the patient. Reducing caregiver distress should be a goal of any future intervention.© 2016 The Authors. Psycho-Oncology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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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.