Addisu Getie, Afework Edmealem, Tegene Atamenta Kitaw
Abstract
Cancer is a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality, significantly impairing patients’ quality of life (QoL). Integrated Palliative Care (IPC) has been proposed as a holistic approach to enhance quality of life by addressing patients’ physical, emotional, and psychosocial needs.
Introduction
Cancer remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, profoundly impacting patients’ quality of life (QoL) [1]. With an increasing incidence of cancer cases, the need for effective care strategies that address not only the medical but also the psychosocial and emotional needs of patients has become paramount.
Methods
The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis were reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) reporting guideline (S1 Table in S1 Text).
Results
In this systematic review and meta-analysis, a comprehensive search was conducted across multiple databases using targeted keywords, yielding a total of 1,141 RCTs. However, a large portion of these studies was excluded during the screening process for various reasons.
Discussion
This study presented a significant positive impact of integrated palliative care on the quality of life of cancer patients compared to standard care (SMD = 3.25; 95% CI: 1.20–5.30; p < 0.001). This is because IPC is attributed to its holistic approach, which addresses not only physical symptoms but also emotional, social, and spiritual needs.
Conclusion
This study demonstrates a significant improvement in quality of life for cancer patients receiving integrated palliative care compared to standard care. Subgroup analysis revealed that the benefits are particularly notable in Asia and Africa, among lung cancer patients, and in newly diagnosed individuals.
Citation: Getie A, Edmealem A, Kitaw TA (2025) Comparative Impact of Integrated Palliative Care vs. Standard Care on the Quality of Life in Cancer Patients: A Global Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. PLoS ONE 20(4): e0321586. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321586
Editor: Usama Waqar, Emory University, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Received: October 9, 2024; Accepted: March 7, 2025; Published: April 10, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 Getie et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the article and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.;
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist
Abbreviations: CI, Confidence Interval; ICP, Integrated Palliative Care; QoL, Quality of Life; PRISMA, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis; RCTs, Randomized Control Trials; SMD, Standardized Mean Difference
