Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39870939›Full record

ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2025

"The biggest challenge is there's never a routine": a qualitative study of the time burdens of cancer care at home.

Preethiya Sekar, Whitney V Johnson, Manju George, Allison Breininger, Helen M Parsons, Rachel I Vogel, Anne H Blaes, Arjun Gupta

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing 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

11 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Time toxicity among patients with cancer: a scoping review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. The experience of time toxicity in cancer patients: a meta-synthesis of qualitative research.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Patient-, care partner-, and clinician-proposed solutions to address the time toxicity of cancer care.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Article
  9. The weight of time: experience of time toxicity among advanced cancer patients and their family caregivers-a qualitative study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. 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

8 authors.

Preethiya SekarDivision of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, 516 Delaware Street SE, MMC 480, PWB 14-100, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Whitney V JohnsonDivision of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, 516 Delaware Street SE, MMC 480, PWB 14-100, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Manju GeorgePaltown Development Foundation/COLONTOWN, Crownsville, MD, USA.
Allison BreiningerThe Negative Space, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Helen M ParsonsDivision of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, 516 Delaware Street SE, MMC 480, PWB 14-100, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Rachel I VogelDivision of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, 516 Delaware Street SE, MMC 480, PWB 14-100, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Anne H BlaesDivision of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, 516 Delaware Street SE, MMC 480, PWB 14-100, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
Arjun GuptaDivision of Hematology, Oncology, and Transplantation, University of Minnesota, 516 Delaware Street SE, MMC 480, PWB 14-100, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA. arjgupta@umn.edu.

Funding

Women's CancerP30CA077598 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES · PI Timothy C. Hallstrom · 1998 to 2026
$100.4M
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA077598
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeAs cancer care is increasingly delivered in the home, more tasks and responsibilities fall on patients and their informal care partners. These time costs can present significant mental, physical, and financial burdens, and are undercounted in current measures of time toxicity that only consider care received in formal healthcare settings.

methodsSemi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with patients with gastrointestinal cancer and informal care partners at a single tertiary cancer center between March and October 2023. Interviews explored cancer care tasks conducted when home, associated time burdens, how these time burdens compared to facility-based care, and whether home-based care should be included in objective measures of time toxicity. Two coders transcribed interviews and analyzed data using a grounded theory approach.

resultsA single interviewer conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 patients and 18 care partners, and identified five major themes: (1) unexpected home-based care activities are time burdensome; (2) other burdens interact with and impact time burdens; (3) time burdens evolve over the disease course and differentially impact patients and care partners; (4) several factors influence the choice of home-based versus in-facility care; and (5) home-based care is generally perceived as less time-burdensome than in-facility care. Overall, 12 of 33 (36%) participants recommended including days with home-based care in the current contact days measure of time toxicity.

conclusionIn addition to characterizing time burdens associated with home-based cancer care, this study builds on existing literature to explore if and how to incorporate days with home-based care into the contact days measure.

Indexed as

CaregiversGastrointestinal NeoplasmsHome Care ServicesAdultAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleGrounded TheoryHumansInterviews as TopicMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchTime FactorsCancerCare partnersHomeHome-based careTime burdensTime toxicity

Identifiers

PMID39870939
PMCPMC12045303

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.