ReviewBMJ open2023
Role of patients' family members in end-of-life communication: an integrative review.
Review in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 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
39 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Improving communication of prognostic uncertainty in advanced illness: a realist review.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- Identification and synthesis of end-of-life decision-making measures: a scoping review.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Factors influencing palliative care decision-making participation among elderly patients in the terminal stage: a cross-sectional study.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Observational
- Gender-sensitive and diversity-sensitive end-of-life care in Switzerland (GiveCare): a mixed-methods study protocol.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Maintaining personhood within family life: a qualitative study of home-based palliative care for patients with advanced cancer in urban China.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- "Reconciling"- conceptualising the grieving process of family members involved in assisted dying: a grounded formal theory.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Immersive ethical role-play in undergraduate nursing ethics education: a qualitative descriptive study.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Beyond Lip Service: A Position Paper to Truly Stimulate Shared Decision-Making.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Article
- Experiences of Family Caregivers of Older Patients with End-Stage Kidney Disease from Dialysis Initiation to End-of-Life Care: An Exploratory Qualitative Descriptive Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2026Article
- Cultural, religious, and demographic factors shaping Arab healthcare providers' decisions on referring Arab patients to palliative care in Israel: a qualitative study.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Nurses' experiences of end-of-life communication with children who have life-threatening conditions in paediatric intensive care units: a qualitative descriptive study.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Tree of peaches: exploring what matters most at the end-of-life among healthy older adults in Taiwan: a qualitative study.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- The transformative impact of spirituality assessment on the quality of life for end of life cancer patients: a perspective paper.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Ritualized relational autonomy in Chinese end-of-life care: balancing Confucian benevolence and individual rights.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Breaking the silence: the effectiveness of a dialogue-based intervention on family functioning and psychological distress among young adults in a Chinese context.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Cultural adaptation of the serious illness conversation guide for caregivers of persons with dementia in Singapore.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Cultural Adaptation and Acceptability of the Crisis Conversation Guide by Emergency Physicians for Serious Illness Patients: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand = Chotmaihet thangphaet · 2025Article
- Conceptualizing end-of-life communication by nursing staff as part of advance care planning with older people: A multiple discipline focus group study.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2025Article
- Willingness to develop an advance directive: perspectives of older persons at a national referral hospital in Uganda.BMC medical ethics · 2025Article
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo synthesise empirical findings on the role of family in end-of-life (EOL) communication and to identify the communicative practices that are essential for EOL decision-making in family-oriented cultures.
settingThe EOL communication settings.
participantsThis integrative review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses reporting guideline. Relevant studies published between 1 January 1991 and 31 December 2021 were retrieved from four databases, including the PsycINFO, Embase, MEDLINE and Ovid nursing databases, using keywords with meanings of 'end-of-life', 'communication' and 'family'. Data were then extracted and coded into themes for analysis. The search strategy yielded 53 eligible studies; all 53 included studies underwent quality assessment. Quantitative studies were evaluated using the Quality Assessment Tool, and Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist was used for qualitative research. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Research evidence on EOL communication with a focus on family.
resultsFour themes emerged from these studies: (1) conflicts in family decision-making in EOL communication, (2) the significance of timing of EOL communication, (3) difficulty in identification of a 'key person' who is responsible for decisions regarding EOL care and (4) different cultural perspectives on EOL communication.
conclusionsThe current review pointed towards the importance of family in EOL communication and illustrated that family participation likely leads to improved quality of life and death in patients. Future research should develop a family-oriented communication framework which is designed for the Chinese and Eastern contexts that targets on managing family expectations during prognosis disclosure and facilitating patients' fulfilment of familial roles while making EOL decision-making. Clinicians should also be aware of the significance of the role of family in EOL care and manage family members' expectations according to cultural contexts.
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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.