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Screening for symptom burden and supportive needs of patients with glioblastoma and brain metastases and their caregivers in relation to their use of specialized palliative care

  • Purpose Patients with brain tumors have a high symptom burden and multiple supportive needs. Needs of caregivers are often unattended. This study aims to determine screening-based symptom burden and supportive needs of patients and caregivers with regard to the use of specialized palliative care (SPC). Methods Seventy-nine patients with glioblastoma and brain metastases and 46 caregivers were screened with standardized questionnaires following diagnosis and 2 months later. The screening assessed symptom burden, quality of life (QoL), distress, and supportive needs. Results The most relevant symptoms were drowsiness, tiredness, and low well-being (53–58%). The most prevalent patient supportive needs were the need for information about available resources, the illness, and possible lifestyle changes (50–56%). The most prevalent caregiver needs were information about the illness, lifestyle changes, and about available resources (56–74%). Patients who received SCP and their caregivers had higher symptom burden and supportive needs than those without SPC. They reported moderate improvement in pain, distress, and QoL, while patients without SPC also improved their QoL, but had small to moderate deteriorations in pain, drowsiness, nauseas, well-being, and other problems. Distress of caregivers with SPC improved with moderate to large effect sizes but still was on a high level and remained stable for those without SPC. Conclusions Symptom burden and supportive needs were high, but even more caregivers than patients expressed high distress and supportive needs. SPC appears to reach the target group, both patients and caregivers with elevated symptom burden. Targeted interventions are needed to improve tiredness and drowsiness. Access provided by DEAL DE / Springer Compact Clearingstelle Uni Freiburg _

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Author:Bettina Seekatz, Matthias Lukasczik, Mario Löhr, Katja Ehrmann, Michael Schuler, Almuth F. Keßler, Silke Neuderth, Ralf-Ingo Ernestus, Birgitt, von Oorschot
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-3687-7
Parent Title (English):Supportive care in cancer
Publisher:Springer
Place of publication:Berlin Heidelberg
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of publication:2017
Release Date:2023/08/11
Volume:25
Issue:9
First Page:2761
Last Page:2770
Institutes and faculty:Fakultäten / Fakultät Angewandte Sozialwissenschaften
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