Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41925875›Full record

ArticleAnnals of hematology2026

How to talk about death? A cross-sectional survey on patients', informal caregivers' and health care professionals' views in the setting of allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Lisanne Preuss, Steffen T Simon, Marco Herling, Udo Holtick, Alinda Reimer, Berenike Schoerger, Sukhvir Kaur, Jithmi Weliwitage, Martin Hellmich, Michael Hallek and 7 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of hematology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

17 authors.

Lisanne PreussFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-0402-8197
Steffen T SimonFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6884-1813
Marco HerlingFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen-Bonn-Cologne-Duesseldorf (CIO ABCD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7473-7476
Udo HoltickFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen-Bonn-Cologne-Duesseldorf (CIO ABCD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5543-0257
Alinda ReimerFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1618-8784
Berenike SchoergerFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4209-6659
Sukhvir KaurFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-6252-6193
Jithmi WeliwitageFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Institute of Medical Statistics and Computational Biology (IMSB), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0000-6596-6680
Martin HellmichFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Institute of Medical Statistics and Computational Biology (IMSB), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Michael HallekFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Center for Integrated Oncology Aachen-Bonn-Cologne-Duesseldorf (CIO ABCD), University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7425-4455
Carolin SchepersFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Johann AhnDepartment of Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Campus Virchow-Klinikum (CVK), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5631-4143
Christof ScheidFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department I of Internal Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-6539-226X
Roland SchroersKnappschaft Kliniken- University Hospital Bochum, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2744-5491
Georg-Nikolaus FrankeDepartment of Hematology, Cellular Therapy, Hemostaseology, and Infectious Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Raymond VoltzFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4761-3395
Anne PralongFaculty of Medicine and University Hospital, Department of Palliative Medicine, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. anne.pralong@uk-koeln.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8201-2344

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is a potentially curative treatment, which carries a high risk of complications and mortality, highlighting the necessity of discussions about life threat. This study explores the perspectives of patients, informal caregivers (ICs), and healthcare professionals (HCPs) regarding the timing, content, and challenges of these discussions. Multicenter cross-sectional survey in comprehensive care centers across Germany, involving patients with allo-HSCT, ICs, and HCPs. Questionnaires assessed perceived concerns about life threat, communication needs, and attitudes toward death. Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, group comparisons, and multivariate logistic regressions. A total of 61 patients, 31 ICs and 125 HCPs participated in this study. Patients and ICs had a high need for discussion about life threat at diagnosis, which was corroborated by HCPs. At further time points in the transplant trajectory, there were more discrepancies between patients‘/ICs‘ and HCPs’ perceptions towards conversations about life threat. While 61.7% of patients preferred having their ICs present during discussions, ICs often felt overlooked, with only 50% finding conversations with HCPs helpful. HCPs’ avoidance of death was associated with a reduced likelihood of reporting a need for conversation in patients in the event of severe complications. These findings highlight a discrepancy between patients’ and ICs’ preferred timing for conversations about life threat and HCPs’ perceptions of when patients actually express such a need. To bridge this gap, earlier and ongoing conversations are essential. Training programs should address HCPs’ discomfort in discussing prognosis and improve interdisciplinary teamwork to standardize end-of-life communication.Trial registration number: DRKS00027290 (German Clinical Trials Register) on 10.01.2022.

Indexed as

Attitude of Health PersonnelAttitude to DeathCaregiversCommunicationHealth PersonnelHematopoietic Stem Cell TransplantationAdultAgedCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleGermanyHumansMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesTransplantation, HomologousEnd-of-life communicationHealth care professionalsLife threatPalliative careStem cell transplantation

Identifiers

PMID41925875
PMCPMC13046615

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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.