Trial reportJournal of pain and symptom management2018
Preference for Palliative Care in Cancer Patients: Are Men and Women Alike?
Trial report in Journal of pain and symptom management, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 6 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
59 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 117 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Sex-related differences in end-of-life decision-making in patients with traumatic brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC palliative care · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of patient decision aids for cardiovascular decisions: systematic review with sex/gender-based analysis.European journal of cardiovascular nursing · 2025Pooled it
- Age- and gender-based social inequalities in palliative care for cancer patients: a systematic literature review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Interventions for interpersonal communication about end of life care between health practitioners and affected people.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Impact of a psychoeducational intervention to improve caregiver knowledge and attitudes toward palliative cancer care.Patient education and counseling · 2025Trial
- Perceptions of Need for Palliative Care in Recently Hospitalized Patients With Systolic Heart Failure.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2021Trial
- Missed opportunities: delayed in-hospital palliative care consultations in patients with non-metastatic cancers.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Where the final day is spent: patterns in place of death among U.S. adults with alcoholic liver cirrhosis, 1999-2023.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2026Article
- Service motivation and its associated factors among palliative care volunteers with self-reported personality traits: a cross-sectional study in China.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Timing matters: sex differences in treatment limitation decisions in intensive care.Critical care (London, England) · 2026Article
- FuturePall: Forecasting the specialized inpatient palliative care in Germany based on demographic trends and utilization rates.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Diversity-sensitive palliative and hospice care in Germany - awareness, attitudes, and measures taken by service providers.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Place of death among adults with interstitial lung disease in the United States, 1999-2023: a national population-based study.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2026Review
- Age and sex-based differences in therapy preferences among patients with cancer: evidence from a novel therapy preference scale.Ecancermedicalscience · 2026Article
- Sex and Racial/Ethnic Differences in End-of-Life Care Preferences in Persons with Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025Article
- Assessing Disparities in Who Accepts an Early Palliative Care Consultation.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Article
- Sex differences in advance directives and their clinical translation among critically ill adults: results from the ADVISE study.Annals of intensive care · 2025Article
- Gender differences in palliative care needs among Swedish cancer patients prior to specialist palliative care referral.Acta oncologica (Stockholm, Sweden) · 2025Article
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 at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
contextMen and those with low educational attainment are less likely to receive palliative care. Understanding these disparities is a high priority issue.
objectivesIn this study of advanced cancer patients, we hypothesized that men and those with lower levels of educational attainment would have less favorable attitudes toward palliative care.
methodsWe performed a cross-sectional analysis of data collected from 383 patients at study entry in the Values and Options in Cancer Care (VOICE) clinical trial. Patients were asked about their preferences for palliative care if their oncologist informed them that further treatment would not be helpful. Palliative care was defined as "comfort care" that focuses on "quality of life, but not a cure." Response options were definitely no, possibly no, unsure, possibly yes, and definitely yes. Those preferring palliative care (definitely or possibly yes) were compared to all others. Predictors were patient gender and education level. Covariates included age, race, disease aggressiveness, and financial strain.
resultsWomen were more likely [odds ratio (95% CI)] than men to prefer palliative care [3.07 (1.80-5.23)]. The effect of education on preferences for palliative care was not statistically significant [0.85 (0.48-1.48)].
conclusionSignificant gender differences in patients' preferences for palliative care could partially account for gender disparities in end-of-life care. Interventions to promote palliative care among men could reduce these disparities.
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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.