Aggressiveness of care at the end-of-life in cancer patients and its association with psychosocial functioning in bereaved caregivers

• Verfasst von: Tönnies, Justus [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Hartmann, Mechthild [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Jäger, Dirk [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Bleyel, Caroline [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Becker, Nikolaus [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Friederich, Hans-Christoph [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Haun, Markus W. [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Aggressiveness of care at the end-of-life in cancer patients and its association with psychosocial functioning in bereaved caregivers
• Verf.angabe: Justus Tönnies, Mechthild Hartmann, Dirk Jäger, Caroline Bleyel, Nikolaus Becker, Hans-Christoph Friederich and Markus W. Haun
• E-Jahr: 2021
• Jahr: 04 June 2021
• Umfang: 11 S.
• Teil: volume:11
• Teil: year:2021
• Teil: day:4
• Teil: month:06
• Teil: elocationid:673147
• Teil: extent:11
• Fussnoten: Gesehen am 07.07.2021
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Frontiers in oncology
• Ort Quelle: Lausanne : Frontiers Media, 2011
• Jahr Quelle: 2021
• Band/Heft Quelle: 11(2021) vom: 4. Juni, Artikel-ID 673147
• ISSN Quelle: 2234-943X
• DOI: doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.673147
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• Sach-SW: aggressiveness of care
• Sach-SW: Cancer
• Sach-SW: Caregivers
• Sach-SW: MANOVA (Multivariate Analysis of Variance)
• Sach-SW: Mental Health
• Sach-SW: regret
• K10plus-PPN: 1762342618
• K10plus-PPN:
  Universitätsbibliothek
• Lokale URL UB: Zum Volltext

Abstract

Background: Intensified oncological treatment for advanced cancer patients at the end-of-life has been specified as aggressiveness of care (AOC) and increased over the past decades. The aims of this study were to 1) determine the frequency of AOC in Central Europe, and 2) investigate differences in mental health outcomes in bereaved caregivers depending on whether the decedent had experienced AOC or not. Materials and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in a large tertiary comprehensive cancer care center in Germany. Bereaved caregivers provided information about (a) treatment within the last month of life of the deceased cancer patient and (b) their own mental health status, i.e., decision regret, complicated grief, depression, and anxiety. After multiple imputation of missing data, differences in mental health outcomes between AOC-caregivers and non-AOC-caregivers were analyzed in a multivariate analysis of variances. Results: We enrolled 298 bereaved caregivers of deceased cancer patients. AOC occurred in 30.9% of all patients. In their last month of life, 20.0% of all patients started a new chemotherapy regimen and 13.8% received ICU-treatment. We found differences in mental health outcomes between bereaved AOC- and non-AOC-caregivers. Bereaved AOC caregivers experienced significantly more decision regret compared to non-AOC caregivers (Cohen’s d = 0.49, 95% CI [0.23, 0.76]). Conclusion: AOC occurs frequently in European health care and is associated with poorer mental health outcomes in bereaved caregivers. Future cohort studies should substantiate these findings and explore specific trajectories related to AOC. Notwithstanding, shared-decision making at end-of-life should increasingly account for both patients’ and caregivers’ preferences.