ArticleBMC palliative care2020
Living and dying with incurable cancer: a qualitative study on older patients' life values and healthcare professionals' responsivity.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Longing for continuity: A systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative research on the experience of older people living with chronic illness towards the end of life.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2026Pooled it
- Qualitative studies on men with prostate cancer: a systematic meta-synthesis.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Pooled it
- Lived experiences of life with newly diagnosed advanced cancer - a qualitative interview study.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- Ennui in Long-Term Cancer: Existential Consequences Experienced by an Academic.Journal of patient experience · 2025Article
- The value of home-based advance care planning in addressing existential concerns among older Norwegian patients with cancer and their relatives: A narrative ethnographic study.Palliative care and social practice · 2025Article
- Personal legacy and treatment choices for serious illness: a scoping review.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2024Article
- Care quality and satisfaction at the cancer hospital - a questionnaire study of older patients with cancer and their family members.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Chinese version of the functional assessment of chronic illness therapy spiritual well-being scale among Chinese childhood cancer patients in China.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- The theorisation of 'best interests' in bioethical accounts of decision-making.BMC medical ethics · 2021Review
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 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn ageing Western societies, many older persons live with and die from cancer. Despite that present-day healthcare aims to be patient-centered, scientific literature has little knowledge to offer about how cancer and its treatment impact older persons' various outlooks on life and underlying life values. Therefore, the aims of this paper are to: 1) describe outlooks on life and life values of older people (≥ 70) living with incurable cancer; 2) elicit how healthcare professionals react and respond to these.
methodsSemi-structured qualitative interviews with 12 older persons with advanced cancer and two group interviews with healthcare professionals were held and followed by an analysis with a grounded theory approach.
resultsSeveral themes and subthemes emerged from the patient interview study: a) handling incurable cancer (the anticipatory outlook on "a reduced life", hope and, coping with an unpredictable disease) b) being supported by others ("being there", leaving a legacy, and having reliable healthcare professionals) and; c) making end-of-life choices (anticipatory fears, and place of death). The group interviews explained how healthcare professionals respond to the abovementioned themes in palliative care practice. Some barriers for (open) communication were expressed too by the latter, e.g., lack of continuity of care and advance care planning, and patients' humble attitudes.
conclusionsOlder adults living with incurable cancer showed particular outlooks on life and life values regarding advanced cancer and the accompanying last phase of life. This paper could support healthcare professionals and patients in jointly exploring and formulating these outlooks and values in the light of treatment plans.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.