Trial reportJournal of pain and symptom management2021
Relationships Between Advanced Cancer Patients' Worry About Dying and Illness Understanding, Treatment Preferences, and Advance Care Planning.
Trial report in Journal of pain and symptom management, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychological interventions to alleviate death anxiety among patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Factors related to advance directives completion among cancer patients: a systematic review.BMC palliative care · 2024Pooled it
- Perceived Importance of Good Death Components Among Patients With Advanced Cancer and Family Caregivers.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Factors Associated with Advance Care Planning Engagement Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Article
- Validation of the Double Awareness Scale: A Novel Measure of Psychological Adaptation to Advanced Cancer.Psycho-oncology · 2026Article
- Death Anxiety During the Last Year of Life in Patients With Advanced Cancer: Longitudinal Results From the eQuiPe Study.Psycho-oncology · 2026Observational
- The Role of Advance Care Planning on Community Dwelling Adults' Coping Abilities and Death Attitudes: A Sequential Mixed-Methods Study.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Article
- Perspectives on advanced care planning of adolescent and young adult cancer patients, families, and healthcare providers: A qualitative study based on the health belief model.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2025Article
- Assessing the Effects of Cancer Diagnosis and Coping Strategies on Patients in Vhembe District Hospitals, Limpopo Province.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Article
- Anxiety and Depression in Metastatic Cancer: A Critical Review of Negative Impacts on Advance Care Planning and End-of-Life Decision Making With Practical Recommendations.JCO oncology practice · 2023Review
- Accuracy of curability expectations in patients with gastrointestinal cancers.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Referral Patterns of Outpatient Palliative Care among the Head and Neck Cancer Population.International archives of otorhinolaryngology · 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
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
contextPatients with advanced cancer often worry about dying. Less is known about the role of worry in decision making regarding future care.
objectivesTo explore relationships between patients' worry about dying and their illness understanding, treatment preferences, and advance care planning (ACP).
methodsThis cross-sectional study used baseline data from a primary palliative care intervention trial. All participants had metastatic solid tumors. Using patients' response to I worry about dying from the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness-Palliative Care survey instrument, univariate and multivariate analyses assessed associations with illness understanding, treatment preferences, and ACP.
resultsOf 672 patients, 47% reported worrying about dying not at all, whereas 9.7% worried quite a bit or very much. In regression analysis, compared with patients who reported not worrying about dying, those who reported high levels of worry were more likely to describe themselves as terminally ill (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.98; 95% CI = 1.10-3.54; P = 0.021) and prefer life-extending therapy over symptom-focused care (AOR = 2.61; 95% CI = 1.30-5.22; P = 0.007). They were less likely to have completed an advance directive (AOR = 0.49; 95% CI = 0.25-0.94; P = 0.032). The same relationships were seen using patients' response to I feel scared about my future from the Herth Hope Index.
conclusionPatients with advanced cancer who worry about dying are more likely to identify as terminally ill and desire life-extending treatment and are less likely to engage in ACP. Understanding how patients cope with worry and make medical decisions is important in providing quality care to these patients.
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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.