ArticleBMC palliative care2021
Higher levels of unmet support needs in spouses are associated with poorer quality of life - a descriptive cross-sectional study in the context of palliative home care.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 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
20 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Caring for the Informal Caregivers: Systematic Review of Unmet Needs in Palliative Care.Nursing open · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Telemedicine on Informal Caregivers of Patients in Palliative Care: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- Expectations and motives for nominating a family caregiver to partake in a web-based psychoeducational intervention: perspectives of patients with advanced illness in palliative care.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Trial
- Effects of motivational music on sleep quality for caregivers of patients with advanced cancer: a randomized controlled trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Trial
- Communication about incurable illness and remaining life between spouses and patients with incurable illness receiving specialized home care: effects of a family caregiver-targeted web-based psycho-educational intervention.BMC palliative care · 2024Trial
- Effect of Self-Chosen Music in Alleviating the Burden on Family Caregivers of Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Randomised Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Trial
- How social, psychological, and spiritual needs are supported in the last months of life: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing end-of-life interviews.Age and ageing · 2026Article
- Invisible Pillars With Hidden Burdens: A Scoping Review on the Challenges of Informal Caregivers for Older Adults in Home-Based Palliative Care.Journal of palliative care · 2026Article
- Psychological distress, quality of life, needs, and resources among informal caregivers in specialist palliative home care.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Spouses' Experiences of Emotional and Existential Support When Caring for a Frail Partner Late in Life.International journal of older people nursing · 2025Article
- The Support Needs Approach for Patients (SNAP): content validity and response processes from the perspective of patients and nurses in Swedish specialised palliative home care.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- Effects of virtual counseling on the care burden and quality of life of family caregivers for leukemia patients: a randomized controlled trial study.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Aesthetic experiences of patients with advanced cancer in end-of-life care in China: A phenomenological study.Belitung nursing journal · 2025Article
- What individual needs do family caregivers have in palliative home care and how are they supported? A qualitative study of a supportive intervention.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Family caregivers' preferences for support when caring for a family member with cancer in late palliative phase who wish to die at home - a grounded theory study.BMC palliative care · 2024Article
- The responsibility to quench thirst by providing drinks when a relative is dying spouses' experience in specialist palliative home care.BMC palliative care · 2023Article
- Effects of Music on the Quality of Life of Family Caregivers of Terminal Cancer Patients: A Randomised Controlled Trial.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Risk factors associated with the comprehensive needs of cancer caregivers in China.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023Article
- Quality of Life vs. Supportive Care Needs for Oral Cancer Caregivers: Are They Related?Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2023Article
- Depression Associated with Caregiver Quality of Life in Post-COVID-19 Patients in Two Regions of Peru.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 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
10 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFamily caregivers often report having unmet support needs when caring for someone with life-threatening illness. They are at risk for psychological distress, adverse physical symptoms and negatively affected quality of life. This study aims to explore associations between family caregivers' support needs and quality of life when caring for a spouse receiving specialized palliative home care.
methodsA descriptive cross-sectional design was used: 114 family caregivers completed the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) and the Quality of Life in Life-Threatening Illness - Family caregiver version (QOLLTI-F) and 43 of them also answered one open-ended question on thoughts about their situation. Descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression analyses, and qualitative content analysis, were used for analyses.
resultsHigher levels of unmet support needs were significantly associated with poorer quality of life. All CSNAT support domains were significantly associated with one or more quality of life domains in QOLLTI-F, with the exception of the QoL domain related to distress about the patient condition. However, family caregivers described in the open-ended question that their life was disrupted by the patient's life-threatening illness and its consequences. Family caregivers reported most the need of more support concerning knowing what to expect in the future, which they also described as worries and concerns about what the illness would mean for them and the patient further on. Lowest QoL was reported in relation to the patient's condition, and the family caregiver's own physical and emotional health.
conclusionWith a deeper understanding of the complexities of supporting family caregivers in palliative care, healthcare professionals might help to increase family caregivers' QoL by revealing their problems and concerns. Thus, tailored support is needed.
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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.