Unmet supportive care needs of people with advanced cancer and their caregivers: A systematic scoping review

Nicolas H Hart; Fiona Crawford-Williams; Megan Crichton; Jasmine Yee; Thomas J Smith; Bogda Koczwara; Margaret I Fitch; Gregory B Crawford; Sandip Mukhopadhyay; Jane Mahony; Chan Cheah; James Townsend; Olivia Cook; Meera R Agar; Raymond J Chan

doi:10.1016/j.critrevonc.2022.103728

Unmet supportive care needs of people with advanced cancer and their caregivers: A systematic scoping review

Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2022 Aug:176:103728. doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2022.103728. Epub 2022 Jun 1.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Science, Flinders University, SA, Australia; Exercise Medicine Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, WA, Australia; Cancer and Palliative Care Outcomes Centre, School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, QLD, Australia; Institute for Health Research, University of Notre Dame Australia, WA, Australia. Electronic address: nicolas.hart@flinders.edu.au.
² Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Science, Flinders University, SA, Australia; Cancer and Palliative Care Outcomes Centre, School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, QLD, Australia.
³ Cancer and Palliative Care Outcomes Centre, School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, QLD, Australia; Nutrition and Dietetics Research Group, Bond University, QLD, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-Based Decision-Making, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Division of General Internal Medicine, John Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁶ Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, SA, Australia; Flinders Cancer and Innovation Centre, Flinders Medical Centre, SA, Australia.
⁷ School of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁸ Discipline of Medicine, University of Adelaide, SA, Australia; Northern Adelaide Local Health Network, SA, Australia.
⁹ Burdwan Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India; Indian Council of Medical Research, National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, India.
¹⁰ McGrath Foundation, NSW, Australia.
¹¹ Internal Medicine, UWA Medical School, University of Western Australia, WA, Australia; Department of Haematology, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, WA, Australia; Department of Haematology, Hollywood Private Hospital, WA, Australia.
¹² McGrath Foundation, NSW, Australia; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University, VIC, Australia.
¹³ IMPACCT Centre, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

PMID: 35662585
DOI: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2022.103728

Abstract

Examining and addressing unmet care needs is integral to improving the provision and quality of cancer services. This review explored the prevalence of unmet supportive care needs, and factors associated with unmet need, in adults with advanced cancers (solid and hematological malignancies) and their caregivers. Electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE) were searched, producing 85 papers representing 81 included studies. People with advanced cancer reported the highest unmet needs in financial, health system and information, psychological, and physical and daily living domains, whereas caregivers reported the highest unmet needs in psychological, and patient care and support domains. Distress, depression, and anxiety were associated with higher unmet needs across all unmet need domains for people with advanced cancer and their caregivers. Substantial heterogeneity in study populations and methods was observed. Findings from this review can inform targeted strategies and interventions to address these unmet needs in people with advanced cancer.

Keywords: Hematology; Metastatic cancer; Needs assessment; Oncology; Survivorship care.

Publication types

Review
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Adult
Anxiety / epidemiology
Anxiety / etiology
Anxiety / therapy
Caregivers* / psychology
Health Services Needs and Demand
Humans
Needs Assessment
Neoplasms* / psychology
Neoplasms* / therapy
Social Support
Surveys and Questionnaires