Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39346008›Full record

ReviewPalliative care and social practice2024

Re-living trauma near death: an integrative review using Grounded Theory narrative analysis.

Nikki Johnston, Michael Chapman, Jo Gibson, Catherine Paterson, Murray Turner, Karen Strickland, Wai-Man Liu, Christine Phillips, Kasia Bail

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Palliative care and social practice, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Trauma-informed palliative care.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2025
    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

9 authors.

Nikki JohnstonFaculty of Health, University of Canberra, Building 10, 11 Kirinari Street, Bruce, Australia, ACT Health Directorate, Canberra, ACT, Bruce, ACT 2617, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3057-0787
Michael ChapmanPalliative and Supportive Care, Canberra Health Services, Garran, ACT, Australia.
Jo GibsonFaculty of Health, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia.
Catherine PatersonCollege of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Murray TurnerFaculty of Health, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6326-8707
Karen StricklandSchool of Nursing and Midwifery, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
Wai-Man LiuResearch School of Finance, Actuarial Studies and Statistics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Christine PhillipsSchool of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Kasia BailFaculty of Health, University of Canberra, Bruce, ACT, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Symptoms of emotional and physical stress near death may be related to previous experiences of trauma. Objective: To investigate current evidence regarding the following: (1) Is previous trauma identified in people who are dying, and if so, how? (2) How is previous trauma associated with the experience of death/dying in people with or without cognitive impairment? and (3) What palliative care interventions are available to people with previous trauma at the end of life? Design: This integrative review was conducted per Whittemore and Knafl's guidelines, which involves a stepped approach, specifically (1) problem identification, (2) literature search, (3) data evaluation, (4) data analysis and (5) presentation. Methods: This integrative review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Electronic databases were searched in August 2021 and updated in August 2023. The articles were quality appraised, and narrative data were analysed using Grounded Theory (GT). Results: Of 1310 studies screened, 11 met the inclusion criteria (four qualitative and seven quantitative) conducted in Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States; and American studies accounted for 7/11 studies. Eight were focused on war veterans. Descriptive studies accounted for the majority, with only two publications testing interventions. Re-living trauma near death has additional features to a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder alone, such as physical symptoms of uncontrolled, unexplained acute pain and this distress was reported in the last weeks of life. Conclusion: This study proposes that re-living trauma near death is a recognisable phenomenon with physical and psychological impacts that can be ameliorated with improved clinical knowledge and appropriate management as a new GT. Further research is needed to enable past trauma identification at the end of life, and trauma-informed safe interventions at the end of life are an urgent need.

Indexed as

end-of-life careidentifying past traumaincreased sufferingtraumatrauma-informed palliative care

Identifiers

PMID39346008
PMCPMC11439169

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.