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A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to identify the factors related to cancer death anxiety based on available evidence.
This systematic review and meta-analysis followed the PRISMA 2020 guidelines.
Seven databases were searched to identify studies on the relationships of cancer death anxiety with demographic characteristics, disease factors and psychosocial factors from inception to May 2023. The Agency for Medical Research and Quality (AHRQ) scale was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. After two researchers independently completed the literature search, data extraction and quality evaluation, meta-analysis was conducted by using RevMan5.3 and Stata 17.0 software.
In total, 52 studies were included in this review. The results revealed that there were positive correlations of death anxiety with female sex, the symptom burden, anxiety levels, depression levels, fear of recurrence, attachment avoidance, psychological distress, resignation and confrontation coping. Death anxiety was negatively correlated with age, education level, ability to perform daily activities, self-esteem, spiritual well-being, sense of meaning in life, resilience, quality of life, social support and religious beliefs.
Our results can inform the design of interventions to address death anxiety and improve the overall quality of life of cancer patients. Healthcare professionals should promptly identify and focus on death anxiety in high-risk populations of cancer patients.
Cancer patients commonly experience death anxiety, and this anxiety has a nonnegligible impact on patients' mental health and overall quality of life. This study can inform the development of interventions by clinical healthcare professionals.
This was a meta-analysis based on data from previous studies.
To examine the multidimensional properties of caregiver burden among family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer in a palliative context.
A sequential, explanatory, mixed-method study was performed.
Family caregivers of patients diagnosed with advanced cancer were recruited from a palliative care department of a third-level hospital in Sichuan Province, China. The Caregiver Burden Inventory, Social Support Rating Scale and Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale were used to collect quantitative data, and a total of 150 caregivers were recruited from January 2022 to September 2022. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and a total of 22 caregivers were interviewed from October 2022 to November 2022. Survey data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and the factors of caregiver burden were identified using the Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis H test and Spearman correlations. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was performed to analyse the interview data to initially explore the multidimensions of caregiver burden. The following-a-thread method and convergence coding matrix were used for triangulation to examine the multidimensional properties of caregiver burden.
The participants experienced a moderate level of caregiver burden (32.97 ± 13.09). Through triangulation, six meta-themes and nine meta-subthemes were identified as multidimensional properties of caregiver burden, including physical (too many caring tasks and poor health condition), emotional (strong negative emotions resulting from patients' suffering and insufficient and ineffective family communication), social (less social interaction and social role conflict) and economic burdens, factors that aggravate burden (prevention and control of COVID-19 and spousal relationship with patients) and factors that mitigate burden (social support).
Multiple dimensions of caregiver burden were experienced by family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer in the palliative context. Family-centred palliative care must be further developed.
It is important to develop family-centred palliative care. Therefore, the focus must be on developing a rational understanding of palliative care in public and a culture-oriented death education in palliative units.
This study adopted a mixed-method approach to comprehensively understand the phenomenon of and factors in caregiver burden in the Chinese palliative oncology context. Our findings suggest that family caregivers in palliative oncology experience a moderate level of caregiver burden, with dimensions including physical, emotional, social and economic burdens, among which emotional burden is the most prominent. The findings of this study provide policy makers and nurse practitioners with targets to be addressed in family-centred care in Chinese palliative units.
The results of this study are reported based on the guidelines of the Mixed-Methods Article Reporting Standards.
Eligible caregivers were invited to participate in the study and semi-structured interviews. Nurse managers of the palliative unit helped us access the patient-management system.
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