ArticleEcancermedicalscience2026
Spirituality, symptom burden and palliative care needs assessed by the Palliative Outcome Scale in those with cancer: a cross-sectional study.
Article in Ecancermedicalscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Understanding symptom prevalence and palliative care needs is essential to advancing palliative care research in South America. This study aimed to assess these outcomes using the Palliative Outcome Scale (POS) and explore their relationship with the self-rated importance of spirituality. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among adult persons with cancer receiving palliative care at an outpatient clinic in a Brazilian public hospital. Data were collected through structured interviews using the POS, which assesses physical and psychosocial symptoms, communication, practical concerns and information received. Spirituality was measured using a self-rated single-item question. Associations between symptom burden and spirituality were analysed using Results: Sixty-seven patients (mean age 60 ± 13.8 years; 68.6% female) participated. Pain (77.6%), nausea (27%), weakness/fatigue (20.9%) and psychological distress (19.4%) were the most prevalent symptoms. Most had metastatic cancer (62.7%), and 32.8% were undergoing chemotherapy. Patients rating spirituality as highly important had significantly lower pain scores (mean 1.4 ± 1.4 versus 2.6 ± 0.9, Conclusion: Our findings underscore the high prevalence of physical, psychological and social challenges among persons with cancer receiving palliative care. Symptom patterns aligned with global data, suggesting a universal burden. The strong association between spirituality and pain highlights the protective role of spiritual well-being in mitigating suffering, reinforcing the need to integrate spiritual care into palliative frameworks. These results offer valuable insights for guiding clinical practice, shaping international policy and informing future research to optimise care delivery and patient outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.