Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39881280›Full record

ArticleBMC palliative care2025

Comparison of the sociodemographic and clinical profiles of cancer patients admitted to a tertiary palliative care unit before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bruno Fernando da Silva Reis, Gisele O'Dwyer, Valeria Teresa Saraiva Lino, Lívia Costa de Oliveira, Karla Santos da Costa Rosa, Simone Garruth Dos Santos Machado Sampaio

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC palliative care, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

6 authors.

Bruno Fernando da Silva ReisSergio Arouca National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. brunofsreis@gmail.com.
Gisele O'DwyerSergio Arouca National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Valeria Teresa Saraiva LinoSergio Arouca National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Lívia Costa de OliveiraPalliative Care Unit, National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Karla Santos da Costa RosaPalliative Care Unit, National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Simone Garruth Dos Santos Machado SampaioPalliative Care Unit, National Cancer Institute, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo compare the sociodemographic and clinical profiles of patients with advanced cancer admitted to a tertiary palliative care unit before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

methodsThis is an analysis of data from patients receiving care before (10/21/2019 to 03/16/2020) and during (09/23/2020 to 08/26/2021) the COVID-19 pandemic. Sociodemographic and clinical data were evaluated. Logistic regression analyses were used, with the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) as measures of effect.

results673 patients were enrolled (204 in the pre-pandemic period and 469 in the pandemic period). The final logistic regression model demonstrated that patients admitted during the pandemic had a greater chance of having white skin (OR: 1.66 [95% CI: 1.15-2.39]), having a gastrointestinal tract cancer (OR: 2.95 [95% CI: 1.55-5.62]) and in skin, bones, and soft tissue (OR: 2.40 [95% CI: 1.13-5.08]), having received prior radiotherapy (OR: 1.83 [95% CI: 1.26-2.55]), and having a higher global PG-SGA SF score (OR: 1.06 [95% CI: 1.02-1.09]).

conclusionEthnicity, nutritional risk, previous radiotherapy, and type of tumor were associated with advanced cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear what impacts the COVID-19 pandemic had on palliative care. This study presented findings based on one tertiary palliative care facility for patients with cancer. Give the limited literature on the subject, our comparative analysis of data serves as a starting point for a debate on this subject. More studies of a similar nature are needed to enable future comparisons and assist planning for other pandemics.

Indexed as

COVID-19NeoplasmsPalliative CareAdultAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPandemicsSociodemographic FactorsTertiary Care CentersCancerCOVID-19NeoplasmsPalliative careTherapeutics

Identifiers

PMID39881280
PMCPMC11776264

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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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.