Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38432223›Full record

Observational studyOncology research and treatment2024

Stability of End-of-Life Care Wishes and Gender-Specific Characteristics of Outpatients with Advanced Cancer under Palliative Therapy: A Prospective Observational Study.

Thomas Golombek, Nora Hegewald, Astrid Schnabel, Hansjakob Fries, Florian Lordick

Open access · hybridAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Oncology research and treatment, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.8field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Advanced cancer patients' knowledge and opinions regarding the French law on advance directives: a multicenter cross-sectional study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Thomas GolombekDepartment of Oncology, University Cancer Center Leipzig (UCCL), University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
Nora HegewaldDepartment of Oncology, University Cancer Center Leipzig (UCCL), University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
Astrid SchnabelDepartment of Oncology, University Cancer Center Leipzig (UCCL), University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
Hansjakob FriesDepartment of Internal Medicine III - Oncology, Hematology and Rheumatology, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Florian LordickDepartment of Oncology, University Cancer Center Leipzig (UCCL), University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
University Hospital Bonn · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionEarly integration of palliative care and advance care planning (ACP) play an increasingly important role in the treatment of patients with advanced cancer. Advance directives (ADs) and patients' preferences regarding end-of-life (EoL) care are important aspects of ACP. In the outpatient setting, the prevalence of those documents and EoL care wishes is not well investigated, and changes in the longitudinal course are poorly understood.

methodsFrom June 2020 to August 2022, 67 outpatients with advanced solid tumors undergoing palliative cancer therapy were interviewed on the topic of ACP in a longitudinal course. From this database, the prevalence of ADs, healthcare proxy, EoL care wishes, and the need for counseling regarding these issues were collected. In addition, EoL care wishes were examined for their stability.

resultsFifty-one patients (76.1%) reported having ADs, and 41 patients (61.2%) reported having a healthcare proxy. Nineteen patients (37.3%) with ADs and 11 patients (68.7%) without ADs indicated a wish for counseling. Reported EoL care wishes remained stable over a period of approximately 6 months. Nevertheless, intraindividual changes occurred over time within the different EoL care preferences. The desire for resuscitation and dialysis were significantly higher in men than in women (resuscitation: 15 of 21 men [71.4%] versus 9 of 22 women [40.9%], odds ratio [OR] 3.611, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-12.89, p = 0.048; dialysis: 16 of the 23 men [69.6%] versus 9 of the 25 women [36.0%], OR: 4.063, 95% CI: 1.22-13.58, p = 0.023).

conclusionOur results show a reasonably high percentage of ADs and healthcare proxies in our study cohort. The observed stability of EoL requests encourages the implementation of structured queries for ADs and healthcare proxy for outpatients undergoing palliative treatment. Our data suggest that gender-specific characteristics should be further investigated in this context.

Indexed as

Advance Care PlanningNeoplasmsPalliative CarePatient PreferenceTerminal CareAdultAdvance DirectivesAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedOutpatientsProspective StudiesSex FactorsAdvance directivesCancerEnd-of-life care wishesGenderStability

Identifiers

PMID38432223
PMCPMC11078325
OpenAlexW4392364144

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

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.