Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

End-of-life care preferences for people with advanced cancer and their families in intensive care units: a systematic review

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Supportive Care in Cancer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Advanced cancer patients’ end-of-life care preferences in oncology units, medical-surgical units, nursing homes and palliative care services have been established. However, less is known about end-of-life care preferences of patients with advanced cancer in intensive care units and their families.

Aim

To explore end-of-life care preferences of patients with advanced cancer and their families in intensive care units and if these align with essential elements for end-of-life care.

Design

Electronic databases were searched up to February 2018. Reference lists of retrieved articles were screened for potential studies.

Results

A total of 112 full text articles were retrieved. Of these, 12 articles reporting outcomes from 10 studies were eligible for inclusion. The majority were retrospective chart reviews (n = 7) and conducted in developed countries (n = 9). Care preferences change over time with deteriorating physical condition. Ongoing patient-centred communication and shared decision-making are critical as is teamwork and involvement of a palliative care team. Marital status, gender and ethnicity appear to influence care preferences. Of those studies examining patient preferences and/or the receiving of their preferences, these could be aligned with approximately half of the Australian essential elements for end-of-life care.

Conclusions

Providing end-of-life care for patients with advanced cancer in intensive care units is challenging. No studies have investigated prospectively the end-of-life care preferences of patients and their families in this acute setting. Further research is required to determine the elements of care preferences for patients with advanced cancer and their families in intensive care units in developing countries.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Sharma N, Sharma AM, Wojtowycz MA, Wang D, Gajra A (2016) Utilization of palliative care and acute care services in older adults with advanced cancer. J Geriatr Oncol 7(1):39–46

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Jang RW, Krzyzanowska MK, Zimmermann C, Taback N, Alibhai SM (2015) Palliative care and the aggressiveness of end-of-life care in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst 107(3)

  3. Kim YJ, Kim MJ, Cho YJ, Park JS, Kim JW, Chang H, Lee JO, Lee KW, Kim JH, Yoon HI, Bang SM, Lee JH, Lee CT, Lee JS (2014) Who should be admitted to the intensive care unit? The outcome of intensive care unit admission in stage IIIB-IV lung cancer patients. Med Oncol 31(3):847

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. World Health Organisation. Cancer: fact sheets 2017 2017 [cited 2017 11 DEC]. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs297/en/

  5. Tosi P, Barosi G, Lazzaro C, Liso V, Marchetti M, Morra E, Pession A, Rosti G, Santoro A, Zinzani PL, Tura S (2008) Consensus conference on the management of tumor lysis syndrome. Haematologica. 93(12):1877–1885

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Greer JA, Pirl WF, Jackson VA, Muzikansky A, Lennes IT, Heist RS, Gallagher ER, Temel JS (2012) Effect of early palliative care on chemotherapy use and end-of-life care in patients with metastatic non–small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 30(4):394–400

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance. Global Atlas of Palliative Care at the End of Life 2014 [cited 2017 22 Nov]. Available from: http://www.who.int/nmh/Global_Atlas_of_Palliative_Care.pdf

  8. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (2015) National Consensus Statement: essential elements for safe and high-quality end-of-life care. ACSQHC, Sydney

    Google Scholar 

  9. Canadian Nurses Association.2018 The palliative approach to care and the role of the nurse. Ottawa

  10. The National Institute for health and care excellence. 2015 Care of dying adults in the last days of life.

  11. Kwak J, Haley WE, Chiriboga DA (2008) Racial differences in hospice use and in-hospital death among Medicare and Medicaid dual-eligible nursing home residents. Gerontologist. 48(1):32–41

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Levy C, Hutt E, Pointer L (2012) Site of death among veterans living in veterans affairs nursing homes. J Am Med Dir Assoc 13(3):199–201

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Ng CW, Cheong SK, Govinda Raj A, Teo W, Leong I (2016) End-of-life care preferences of nursing home residents: results of a cross-sectional study. Palliat Med 30(9):843–853

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Shin JA, Parkes A, El-Jawahri A, Traeger L, Knight H, Gallagher ER et al (2016) Retrospective evaluation of palliative care and hospice utilization in hospitalized patients with metastatic breast cancer. Palliat Med 30(9):854–861

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG, Group P (2009) Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement. PLoS Med 6(7):e1000097

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.n.d. Informal carer—relationship to care recipient [cited 2017 20 DEC]. Available from: http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/269485

  17. Effective Public Health Practice Project .1998 Quality Assessment Tool For Quantitative Studies [cited 2017. Available from: https://merst.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/quality-assessment-tool_2010.pdf

  18. Truog RD, Campbell ML, Curtis JR, Haas CE, Luce JM, Rubenfeld GD, Rushton CH, Kaufman DC, American Academy of Critical Care Medicine (2008) Recommendations for end-of-life care in the intensive care unit: a consensus statement by the American College [corrected] of Critical Care Medicine. Crit Care Med 36(3):953–963

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Romano AM, Gade KE, Nielsen G, Havard R, Harrison JH, Barclay J et al (2017) Early palliative care reduces end-of-life intensive care unit (ICU) use but not ICU course in patients with advanced cancer. Oncologist. 22(3):318–323

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Cruz VM, Camalionte L, Caruso P (2015) Factors associated with futile end-of-life intensive care in a cancer hospital. Am J Hosp Palliat Care 32(3):329–334

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Miller SJ, Desai N, Pattison N, Droney JM, King A, Farquhar-Smith P, Gruber PC (2015) Quality of transition to end-of-life care for cancer patients in the intensive care unit. Ann Intensive Care 5(1):59

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Blechman JA, Rizk N, Stevens MM, Periyakoil VS (2013) Unmet quality indicators for metastatic cancer patients admitted to intensive care unit in the last two weeks of life. J Palliat Med 16(10):1285–1289

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Fu S, Hong DS, Naing A, Wheler J, Falchook G, Wen S, Howard A, Barber D, Nates J, Price K, Kurzrock R (2011) Outcome analyses after the first admission to an intensive care unit in patients with advanced cancer referred to a phase I clinical trials program. J Clin Oncol 29(26):3547–3552

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Cesta MA, Cardenas-Turanzas M, Wakefield C, Price KJ, Nates JL (2009) Life-supportive therapy withdrawal and length of stay in a large oncologic intensive care unit at the end of life. J Palliat Med 12(8):713–718

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Delgado-Guay MO, Parsons HA, Li Z, Palmer LJ, Bruera E (2009) Symptom distress, interventions, and outcomes of intensive care unit cancer patients referred to a palliative care consult team. Cancer. 115(2):437–445

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Balboni TA, Balboni M, Enzinger AC, Gallivan K, Paulk ME, Wright A, Steinhauser K, VanderWeele TJ, Prigerson HG (2013) Provision of spiritual support to patients with advanced cancer by religious communities and associations with medical care at the end of life. JAMA Intern Med 173(12):1109–1117

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Loggers ET, Maciejewski PK, Paulk E, DeSanto-Madeya S, Nilsson M, Viswanath K, Wright AA, Balboni TA, Temel J, Stieglitz H, Block S, Prigerson HG (2009) Racial differences in predictors of intensive end-of-life care in patients with advanced cancer. J Clin Oncol 27(33):5559–5564

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  28. Hwang IC, Keam B, Yun YH, Ahn HY, Kim YA (2015) Quality of life changes and intensive care preferences in terminal cancer patients. Palliat Support Care 13(5):1309–1316

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Sharma RK, Prigerson HG, Penedo FJ, Maciejewski PK (2015) Male-female patient differences in the association between end-of-life discussions and receipt of intensive care near death. Cancer. 121(16):2814–2820

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Kinoshita S, Miyashita M (2012) Evaluation of end-of-life cancer care in the ICU: perceptions of the bereaved family in Japan. Am J Hosp Palliat Care 30(3):225–230

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Dennis BK (2014) Understanding participant experiences: reflections of a novice research participant. Int J Qual Methods 13(1):395–410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Wickson-Griffiths A, Kaasalainen S, Ploeg J, McAiney C (2014) Revisiting retrospective chart review: an evaluation of nursing home palliative and end-of-life care research. Palliat Med Care 1(2):8

    Google Scholar 

  33. Sutton J, Austin Z (2015) Qualitative research: data collection, analysis, and management. Can J Hosp Pharm 68(3):226–231

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Kastbom L, Milberg A, Karlsson M (2017) A good death from the perspective of palliative cancer patients. Support Care Cancer 25(3):933–939

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Miyashita M, Morita T, Sato K, Hirai K, Shima Y, Uchitomi Y (2008) Good death inventory: a measure for evaluating good death from the bereaved family member’s perspective. J Pain Symptom Manag 35(5):486–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Hammami MM, Al-Jawarneh Y, Hammami MB, Al Qadire M (2014) Information disclosure in clinical informed consent: "reasonable" patient's perception of norm in high-context communication culture. BMC Med Ethics 15:3

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Mohan D, Alexander SC, Garrigues SK, Arnold RM, Barnato AE (2010) Communication practices in physician decision-making for an unstable critically ill patient with end-stage cancer. J Palliat Med 13(8):949–956

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  38. Virdun C, Luckett T, Lorenz K, Davidson PM, Phillips J (2017) Dying in the hospital setting: a meta-synthesis identifying the elements of end-of-life care that patients and their families describe as being important. Palliat Med 31(7):587–601

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Phelps AC, Lauderdale KE, Alcorn S, Dillinger J, Balboni MT, Van Wert M et al (2012) Addressing spirituality within the care of patients at the end of life: perspectives of patients with advanced cancer, oncologists, and oncology nurses. J Clin Oncol 30(20):2538–2544

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  40. Virdun C, Luckett T, Davidson PM, Phillips J (2015) Dying in the hospital setting: a systematic review of quantitative studies identifying the elements of end-of-life care that patients and their families rank as being most important. Palliat Med 29(9):774–796

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  41. UK Department of Health (2008) End of life care strategy. In: Life PHQCfAAatEo, editor. London: UK Department of Health

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, Chamberlain Building St. Lucia Campus, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Hanan M. Alyami

  2. College of Nursing, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, PO Box 84428, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Hanan M. Alyami

  3. School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, QLD, 4059, Australia

    Raymond Javan Chan

  4. Division of Cancer Services, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, QLD, 4102, Australia

    Raymond Javan Chan

  5. School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Karen New

Authors
  1. Hanan M. Alyami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Raymond Javan Chan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Karen New
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hanan M. Alyami.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

The author(s) also declare that they have full control of all primary data and that they agree to allow the journal to review their data if requested.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 47 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Alyami, H.M., Chan, R.J. & New, K. End-of-life care preferences for people with advanced cancer and their families in intensive care units: a systematic review. Support Care Cancer 27, 3233–3244 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04844-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04844-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation