SynthesisBMJ supportive & palliative care2023
Experiences of fathers of children with a life-limiting condition: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis.
Synthesis in BMJ supportive & palliative care, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 5 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Family Caregivers' Experiences of Services for Children With Medical Complexity: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Evidence Synthesis.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Pooled it
- Experiences of Family Caregivers of Children Aged 1-23 Months Who Have Received Pediatric Palliative Care: A Systematic Review With Qualitative Metasynthesis.Journal of nursing scholarship : an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing · 2025Pooled it
- To understand the experiences, needs, and preferences for supportive care, among children and adolescents (0-19 years) diagnosed with cancer: a systematic review of qualitative studies.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2025Pooled it
- Patient and Public Involvement Work With Parents of Children With Life-Limiting Conditions and Bereaved Parents: A Rapid Systematic Review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Pooled it
- Experiences of music therapy in paediatric palliative care from multiple stakeholder perspectives: A systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis.Palliative medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Bereaved Parents' Perspectives on Quality Pediatric End-of-Life Care: A Scoping Review.Cochrane evidence synthesis and methods · 2026Review
- Mediating Effects of Parental Family Adaptation on the Quality of Life of Children With Down Syndrome: A Study of Father-Mother Dyads.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Article
- Parental experiences transitioning neurological impaired young adults to adult services.Health care transitions · 2026Article
- Tailoring support for parents of children in palliative care: Feasibility of the carer support needs assessment tool intervention paediatric in a Norwegian context.Palliative care and social practice · 2026Article
- Understanding what matters to young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions: a qualitative study to inform the development of a young person end-of-life capability measure.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Help us make a better flow in everyday life - family needs in home-based pediatric palliative care: a qualitative study.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- A Mediation Analysis of Trauma Symptoms on the Well-Being in Caregivers of Children with Medical Complexity.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Together and Apart: A Gender-Informed Qualitative Analysis of Childhood Brain Tumour and the Parental Relationship.Psycho-oncology · 2025Article
- Parents' experiences of the financial and employment impacts of their child receiving end-of-life care: a national qualitative study.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- A mixed methods exploration of the health and caregiving experiences of fathers of children with a life-limiting condition.Palliative medicine · 2025Article
- Children's complex health: Maternal experiences of care and decision making.Journal of child health care : for professionals working with children in the hospital and community · 2024Article
- Posttraumatic stress symptoms in parents of children with newly diagnosed cancer: 1-year trajectories and relationship variables as predictors.Journal of pediatric psychology · 2024Article
- "Hanging on by a Thread": The Lived Experience of Parents of Children with Medical Complexity.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Challenges and coping strategies among caregivers of children with cancer receiving care at a national referral hospital in Kenya.BMC palliative care · 2024Article
- Hospitalization- and death-related financial and employment effects in parents of children with life-limiting conditions: a fixed-effects analysis.European journal of pediatrics · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundChildren with a life-limiting condition often require extensive and complex care, much of which is provided by their parents at home. There is a growing body of research that aims to understand the experiences of these parents, but the majority of this research is from mothers' perspectives, meaning that fathers' experiences are not well understood.
objectivesTo identify and synthesise findings from existing qualitative studies that have explored the experiences of fathers of children with a life-limiting condition.
methodsA systematic review of qualitative research was conducted using thematic synthesis. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Social Science Citation Index.
resultsFindings from 30 studies were included, representing the experiences of 576 fathers of children with a range of diagnoses including cancer, cystic fibrosis, genetic and neurological conditions. Themes detailed fathers' experiences of uncertainty and shock around the time of their child's diagnosis, their accounts of a 'new normal', difficulties in discussing their emotions, forming relationships with and seeking support from professionals and working fathers' role conflicts. They discussed the life-changing nature of their child's diagnosis, an event that affected all aspects of their lives from everyday activities, to their relationships, spirituality, values and ambitions.
conclusionsFathers experience many difficulties in response to their child's diagnosis and ongoing treatment. Findings highlight the need for healthcare professionals to recognise individual family dynamics and the evolving role of the father. Fathers' responses are not widely understood, and research that directly addresses their own well-being is warranted.
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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.