ArticleBMC palliative care2018
The second patient? Family members of cancer patients and their role in end-of-life decision making.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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
32 citing papers in PubMed.
- Structuring healthcare advance directives: Evidence from Chinese end-of-life cancer patients' treatment preferences.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Trial
- An Early Palliative Care Telehealth Coaching Intervention to Enhance Advanced Cancer Family Caregivers' Decision Support Skills: The CASCADE Pilot Factorial Trial.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2022Trial
- The Perspectives of Families in Decision-Making Conflicts Related to Palliative Care Patients With Mechanical Ventilation in Taiwan.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2026Article
- Article
- Sexual Embodiment and Sexual Renegotiation Post-Cancer for LGBTQ People with a Cervix.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Tough choices: the experience of family members of critically ill patients participating in ECMO treatment decision-making: a descriptive qualitative study.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2025Article
- Health utility scores of six common cancers in China measured by SF-6Dv2.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2025Article
- Ethical dilemmas and the reconstruction of subjectivity in digital mourning in the age of AI: an empirical study on the acceptance intentions of bereaved family members of cancer patients.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- The perspectives of patients, relatives, and healthcare providers on end-of-life communication in an Italian Oncological Institute.Palliative care and social practice · 2025Article
- Review
- Higher and Middle Management Perspectives on Patient-Centered Care in an Oncology Setting: A Qualitative Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2024Article
- Remote Patient Monitoring Using Mobile Health Technology in Cancer Care and Research: Patients' Views and Preferences.JCO clinical cancer informatics · 2024Article
- Preparing for Cancer: A Qualitative Study of Hispanic Patient and Caregiver Needs.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- End-of-life and bereavement support to families in cancer care: a cross-sectional survey with bereaved family members.BMC health services research · 2024Observational
- "The communication I had with him back then is still stuck in my mind." Bereaved families of cancer patients' experiences for end-of-life communication.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023Article
- The Functioning of Hospice in the Perception of Family Members of Cancer Surgery and Hospice Patients.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Explanatory Model of Psychogenic, Behavioral and Environmental Causal Attributions of Cancer, and Their Psychogenic, Biomedical and Alternative Treatment in the General Population of Medellín, Colombia.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Cancer Genetic Services in a Low- to Middle-Income Country: Cross-Sectional Survey Assessing Willingness to Undergo and Pay for Germline Genetic Testing.JCO global oncology · 2023Article
- When Patients Make Unexpected Medical Choices.Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS · 2023Article
- Experiences of Korean patients with thyroid cancer receiving radioactive iodine therapy after total thyroidectomy.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2022Article
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.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFamily members are important companions of severely ill patients with cancer. However, studies about the desirability and difficulties of integrating relatives in the decision-making process are rare in oncology. This qualitative study explores the family role in decisions to limit treatment near the end of life from the professionals' point of view.
methodsQualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with oncologists (n = 12) and nurses (n = 6) working at the Department of Hematology/Oncology at the University Hospital in Munich, Germany. The data were analyzed using a descriptive qualitative methodology and discussed from a medical ethics perspective.
resultsFour major themes played a central role in the perception of the medical staff in regard to family members. (1) Family impact on patients' treatment preferences. (2) Strong family wish for further treatment. (3) Emotional distress of the family related to the involvement in end-of-life decision-making. (4) Importance of knowing family structures.
conclusionsThe important role of the family members in patients' disease process is recognized by oncologists and oncology nurses. However, this does not seem to lead to an early involvement of the family members. Developing and establishing a systematic assessment of family members' needs and wishes in order to provide a specific-tailored support should become a priority for interdisciplinary clinical research in the near future.
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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.