Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29573500›Full record

SynthesisEuropean journal of cancer care2018

Effectiveness of palliative care interventions offering social support to people with life-limiting illness-A systematic review.

N Bradley, M Lloyd-Williams, C Dowrick

Open access · hybridAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in European journal of cancer care, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
6.2field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
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

27 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Interventions currently implemented among orphans in South-Africa: a scoping review.SAHARA J : journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance · 2026
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Quality indicators of outpatient palliative care: A systematic review.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2025
    Review
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  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Observational
  19. Review
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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

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

N BradleyAcademic Palliative and Supportive Care Studies Group, Institute of Psychology Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0768-9819
M Lloyd-WilliamsAcademic Palliative and Supportive Care Studies Group, Institute of Psychology Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
C DowrickAcademic Palliative and Supportive Care Studies Group, Institute of Psychology Health and Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
University of Liverpool · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Individuals managing the challenges of life-limiting illness require adequate social support to maintain quality of life. Qualitative research reports that patients value highly the social support obtained in palliative care interventions such as day care and group therapies. This systematic review aims to summarise existing quantitative evidence on palliative care interventions that facilitate social support. Research literature was systematically searched using electronic databases and key journals. Searches returned a total of 6,247 unique titles of which sixteen were eligible for inclusion. Interventions include group therapies, group practical interventions and palliative day care. Outcome measures and study designs were heterogeneous. Only one study used a validated outcome measure of social support. Benefits were influenced by participant characteristics such as baseline distress. Partial economic evaluation was attempted by two studies. Methodological challenges include attrition and use of outcome measures that were insensitive to change. Statistically significant results were reported in psychological and physical domains. Evidence is limited due to methodological issues and a scarcity of quantitative research, particularly regarding long-term benefits and cost-effectiveness. Interventions may be more beneficial to some groups than others.

Indexed as

Social SupportCost-Benefit AnalysisHumansNeoplasmsOutcome Assessment, Health CarePalliative CareQualitative ResearchQuality of LifeTerminal Careday caregroup interventionspalliative carepsychosocial careSocial supportsystematic review

Identifiers

PMID29573500
PMCPMC6001732
OpenAlexW2790783756

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.