SynthesisPalliative medicine2022
An examination and proposed definitions of family members' grief prior to the death of individuals with a life-limiting illness: A systematic review.
Synthesis in Palliative medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 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.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Music therapy for supporting informal carers of adults with life-threatening illness pre- and post-bereavement; a mixed-methods systematic review.BMC palliative care · 2024Pooled it
- An examination and proposed theoretical model of risk and protective factors for bereavement outcomes for family members of individuals who engaged in medical aid in dying: A systematic review.Palliative medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Palliative and end-of-life care needs, experiences, and preferences of LGBTQ+ individuals with serious illness: A systematic mixed-methods review.Palliative medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Psychosocial factors affecting the bereavement experience of relatives of palliative-stage cancer patients: a systematic review.BMC palliative care · 2022Pooled it
- Pre-loss grief among family caregivers: An evolutionary concept analysis.International journal of nursing sciences · 2026Review
- The Challenges of Caregiving-Isn't It Time We Stopped Just Admiring the Problem?Journal of palliative medicine · 2026Article
- Lonely boats swaying in the storm: experiences and supportive needs of adult only-children confronting parental end-of-life care: a qualitative study.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Exploring civilian minds and lives during the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict: a phenomenological study in Lahore, Pakistan.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Non-death loss and GenAI: ethical reflections on griefbots of the living.Frontiers in genetics · 2026Article
- Change of pre-loss grief in relatives of cancer patients: a longitudinal study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Trajectories of Grief Before and After Bereavement and Their Association With Mental Health Outcomes: A Pilot Prospective Cohort Study From the China Grief Cohort 2025.Depression and anxiety · 2026Article
- "I don't grieve as much as I used to": A qualitative study on parents of children with rare and undiagnosed conditions navigating grief in the context of uncertainty.Journal of genetic counseling · 2025Article
- Attachment insecurities, continuing bonds, and grief among family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients: A longitudinal study.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Article
- A mixed methods exploration of the health and caregiving experiences of fathers of children with a life-limiting condition.Palliative medicine · 2025Article
- From Fear to Hope: Understanding Preparatory and Anticipatory Grief in Women with Cancer-A Public Health Approach to Integrating Screening, Compassionate Communication, and Psychological Support Strategies.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Navigating toward acceptance of death: Home-dwelling patients in the palliative phase.BMC palliative care · 2025Article
- Family Members' Explanatory Models of Cancer Anorexia-Cachexia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- A case for inclusion of disordered Non-Death Interpersonal Grief as an official diagnosis: rationale, challenges and opportunities.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Risk, Resilience, and the Two-Track Model of Dementia Grief Among Spouses of People Living With Cognitive Decline.Gerontology & geriatric medicineArticle
- The Road Less Travelled: A Micro-Costing Analysis of an Online Pre-Death Grief and Loss Programme for Carers of People with a Rare Dementia.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundResearch has extensively examined family members' grief prior to the death of an individual with a life-limiting illness but several inconsistencies in its conceptualization of related constructs, yet significant conceptualization issues exist.
aimThis study aimed to identify and characterize studies published on family members grief before the death of an individual with a life-limiting illness, and propose definitions based on past studies in order to initiate conceptual clarity.
designA mixed-method systematic review utilized six databases and was last conducted July 10, 2021. The search strategy was developed using Medical Subject Headings. This study was prospectively registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020166254).
resultsOne hundred thirty-four full-text articles met inclusion criteria. This review revealed across studies a wide variation in terminology, conceptualization, and characterization of grief before the death. More than 18 terms and 30 definitions have been used. In many cases, the same term (e.g. anticipatory grief) was defined differently across studies.
conclusionsWe found grief occurring before the death of a person with a life-limiting illness, which we termed pre-death grief, is comprised of two distinct constructs: anticipatory grief and illness-related grief. Anticipatory grief is future-oriented and is characterized by separation distress and worry about a future without the person with the life-limiting illness being physically present. Illness-related grief is present-oriented and is characterized by grief over current and ongoing losses experienced during the illness trajectory. These definitions provide the field with uniform constructs to advance the study of grief before the death of an individual with a life-limiting illness.
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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.