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Cited by 81Palliative Care and End-of-Life IssuesPalliative and Oncologic CareCancer survivorship and care

Supporting the patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers: what are their palliative care needs?

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Chua, Gek Phin, Pang, Grace Su Yin, Yee, Alethlea Chung Pheng, Neo, Patricia Soek Hui, Zhou, Siqin, Lim, Cindy, Wong, Yin Yee, Qu, Debra Limin +2 more·2020·BMC Cancer
DOI 10.1186/s12885-020-07239-9PMC PMC7429720
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Abstract

Background: The impact and consequences of cancer on the patients and their family caregivers (FCs) are closely intertwined. Caregivers’ burdens can be increased due to the patients’ unmet needs and unresolved problems. Additionally, the caregivers’ unmet needs may adversely affect their own well-being and the patients’ health outcomes. This study aims to determine the palliative care needs and the factors associated with these needs in patients with advanced solid cancer and their FCs. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, 599 patients with advanced solid tumours and 599 FCs were recruited from the largest ambulatory cancer centre and the inpatient ward of the largest hospital in Singapore. Determinants of patients’ and FCs’ needs were assessed by the Comprehensive Needs Assessment Tool (CNAT) and CNAT-C respectively. Clinical characteristics of patients were obtained from medical records. Results: The FCs (median age 51 years) were younger than the patients (median age 62 years), and were mostly female (62.6%) whereas the gender distribution of patients was quite balanced (49.2% male and 50.8% female). Both patients and FCs had “information” and “practical support” in their top three domains of palliative care needs. The second highest domain of needs was “psychological problems” (16.4 ± 21.5) in patients and “health-care staff” (23.4 ± 26.5) in FCs. The item that had the highest need score in “information” domain for both patients and FCs was “financial support for patients, either from government and/ or private organizations”. Under clinical setting, the inpatients (19.2 ± 16.4) and their FCs (26.0 ± 19.0) tend to have higher needs than the outpatients (10.5 ± 12.1) and their FCs (14.7 ± 14.3). In terms of palliative care, higher total CNAT score was observed in both patients (16.6 ± 12.9 versus 13.3 ± 15.2) and their FCs (25.1 ± 18.6 versus 17.7 ± 16.7) who received palliative care. In terms of patients’ KPS scores, patients with lower KPS scores tend to have higher needs. Conclusion: Overall, the findings confirm that patients with advanced cancer and their FCs have many palliative care needs irrespective of their clinical settings. Initiatives and interventions for the development of a comprehensive support system for both patients with advanced cancer and their FCs are warranted and can be derived from these findings.

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  • The discrepancy between the philosophical emphasis on family support and the actual support received by caregivers stems from systemic issues like inadequate caregiver training, limited support services, and poor integration of informal caregiving into the patient care plan.

    “This discrepancy between the philosophical emphasis on family support and the actual support received by caregivers stems from systemic issues like inadequate caregiver training, limited support services, and poor integration of informal caregiving into the patient care plan.20”

    From Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial of CareSTEPS: A Supportive Care Intervention for the Family Caregivers of Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer (2024) · cites this paper as [20]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Chua, G. P., Pang, G. S. Y., Yee, A. C. P., Neo, P. S. H., Zhou, S., Lim, C., Wong, Y. Y., Qu, D. L., Pan, F. T., & Yang, G. M.
Affiliations
National Cancer Centre Singapore (SG)
Corresponding author
Chua, Gek Phin
ORCID
Venue
BMC Cancer
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2020-08-15
Volume
20
Issue
1
Pages
768-768
ISSN
1471-2407 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/s12885-020-07239-9
PMC
PMC7429720
OpenAlex
W3049465667
Cited by
81
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1
FWCI
5.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Cancer (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Singapore Millennium Foundation (2nd Grant Call)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
Keywords
family caregivers, advanced solid tumors, caregiver burden, unmet needs, information needs, psychological support, financial support, inpatient versus outpatient care, Karnofsky performance status, patient well-being, caregiver well-being
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasm Staging, Neoplasms, Palliative Care, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Singapore, Caregivers, Needs Assessment

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