SynthesisSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2018
The impact of specialized palliative care on cancer patients' health-related quality of life: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 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
39 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 89 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reasons for patients in high income countries accessing hospital care while receiving specialist community palliative care: A systematic review and meta-ethnography.Palliative medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Needs and health-related quality of life domains relevant to people in Europe with advanced cancer in need of palliative care: a systematic review of qualitative research.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Pooled it
- Geographic variations in place of death and palliative care utilisation in the last three months of life in high-income countries: a systematic review.BMC palliative care · 2025Pooled it
- Hospital-initiated palliative care interventions for adults with frailty: findings from a systematic review and narrative synthesis.Age and ageing · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Impact of Specialized Pediatric Palliative Care: A Systematic Review.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2020Pooled it
- How Does Symptom Management Affect Quality of Life in Palliative Care Patients? A Descriptive and Correlation Study.Scandinavian journal of caring sciences · 2026Article
- A Review on the Management of Symptoms in Patients with Incurable Cancer.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Review
- The transition from oncology to palliative care: barriers and facilitators explored through an integrative review.BMC palliative care · 2025Review
- To treat or not to treat? Oncologists' perceptions and experiences regarding overtreatment in end stage cancer patients.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Organisation and management of multi-professional care for cancer patients at end-of-life: state-of-the-art from a survey to community and hospital-based professionals.Research in health services & regions · 2024Article
- Palliative Care Use Trends, Racial/Ethnic Disparities, and Overall Survival Differences Among Patients With Metastatic Breast Cancer.Journal of palliative medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Quality of Life in Palliative Care: A Systematic Meta-Review of Reviews and Meta-Analyses.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2024Article
- Implementation of the ID-PALL Assessment Tool for Palliative Care Needs: A Feasibility and Prevalence Study in a Tertiary Hospital.Palliative medicine reports · 2024Article
- Early Integrated Palliative Care Within a Surgical Oncology Clinic.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- HIV and an Ageing Population-What Are the Medical, Psychosocial, and Palliative Care Challenges in Healthcare Provisions.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- Modes and models of care delivery in municipal long-term care services: a cross-sectional study from Norway.BMC health services research · 2023Review
- Fentanyl in cancer pain management: avoiding hasty judgments and discerning its potential benefits.Drugs in context · 2023Review
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 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeSpecialized palliative care (SPC) is currently underutilized or provided late in cancer care. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to critically evaluate the impact of SPC on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
methodsFive databases were searched through June 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and prospective studies using a pre- and post- assessment of HRQoL were included. The PRISMA reporting statement was followed. Criteria from available checklists were used to evaluate the studies' quality. A meta-analysis followed using random-effect models separately for RCTs and non-RCTs.
resultsEleven studies including five RCTs and 2939 cancer patients published between 2001 and 2014 were identified. There was improved HRQoL in patients with cancer following SPC especially in symptoms like pain, nausea, and fatigue as well as improvement of physical and psychological functioning. Less or no improvements were observed in social and spiritual domains. In general, studies of inpatients showed a larger benefit from SPC than studies of outpatients whereas patients' age and treatment duration did not moderate the impact of SPC. Methodological shortcomings of included studies include high attrition rates, low precision, and power and poor reporting of control procedures.
conclusionsThe methodological problems and publication bias call for higher-quality studies to be designed, funded, and published. However, there is a clear message that SPC is multi-disciplinary and aims at palliation of symptoms and burden in line with current recommendations.
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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.