Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30352519›Full record

ArticleIntegrative cancer therapies2018

Addressing Unmet Information Needs: Results of a Clinician-Led Consultation Service About Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Cancer Patients and Their Relatives.

Markus Horneber, Gerd van Ackeren, Felix Fischer, Herbert Kappauf, Josef Birkmann

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In one paragraph

Article in Integrative cancer therapies, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. An education on pharmacologically active complementary and alternative medicine and its effects on cancer treatment: literature review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2022
    Pooled it
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  4. A qualitative analysis of cancer patients' views on facilitators and barriers for the implementation of oncological exercise therapy.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
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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

5 authors.

Markus Horneber1 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Oncology and Hematology, Paracelsus Medical University, Klinikum Nuernberg, Nuernberg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-1011-1997
Gerd van Ackeren2 Department of Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology, Vivantes Clinic Neukoelln, Berlin, Germany.
Felix Fischer3 Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Center for Internal Medicine and Dermatology, Berlin, Germany.
Herbert Kappauf4 Hematology/Medical Oncology, Psychooncology and Palliative Medicine, Starnberg, Germany.
Josef Birkmann1 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Oncology and Hematology, Paracelsus Medical University, Klinikum Nuernberg, Nuernberg, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo report on a telephone consultation service with cancer patients and their relatives about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) between 1999 and 2011.

methodsWe offered a Germany-wide, free-of-charge telephone consultation service about CAM led by oncology clinicians from a comprehensive cancer center. The consultations followed a patient-centered approach with the aim to provide guidance and evidence-based information. Sociodemographic, disease-related data as well as information about the consultations' content were collected in a standardized manner, and feedback questionnaires were sent out immediately after the consultations.

resultsOverall, 5269 callers from all over Germany used the service (57% patients, 43% relatives). The "big 4" cancer types (breast, gastrointestinal, prostate, and lung) accounted for 55% of all calls. In 67% of calls, patients had just received the diagnosis or commenced anticancer therapy; 69% of patients had advanced or metastatic diseases. More than half of the callers (55%) had vague concerns like "what else can I do?" rather than specific questions related to CAM. The consultations covered a broad spectrum of issues from CAM therapies to cancer treatment and measures supportive of health, nutrition, and psychosocial support. Callers highly valued the service.

conclusionsConsulting about CAM addresses important unmet needs from cancer patients and their relatives. It provides clinicians with the opportunity to engage in open and supportive dialogues about evidence-based CAM to help with symptom management, psychological support, and individual self-care. Consulting about CAM cannot be separated from consulting about conventional care and should be provided from the beginning of the cancer journey.

Indexed as

Complementary TherapiesDelivery of Health CareFemaleGermanyHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasmsPalliative CareReferral and ConsultationSelf CareSurveys and QuestionnairesTelephonecommunicationcomplementary therapiesconsultation servicefamily involvementinformation-seekingpatient educationsupportive careunmet needs

Identifiers

PMID30352519
PMCPMC6247549

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.