Survey on hospice care attitude of family members of advanced cancer patients at different ages

Abstract

BACKGROUND Hospice care plays an important role in improving the quality of life of advanced cancer patients, but controversy remains over whether age affects the attitudes of family members toward hospice care. AIM To investigate the attitudes of family members of advanced cancer patients of different ages toward hospice care. METHODS The study participants were 175 family members of patients with advanced cancer from January 2020 and October 2022. The participants were divided into youth (< 40 years, n = 65), middle-aged (40–60 years, n = 59), and elderly (> 60 years, n = 51) groups. Researchers investigated and compared the degree of awareness regarding hospice care, attitudes, and whether the family members of patients would choose hospice care. RESULTS Among the family members of 175 patients, approximately 28% (49/175) were aware of hospice care. Awareness of hospice care, the proportion of hospice care acceptance and adaptation attitudes, and the proportion of those who chose hospice care in the youth group were higher in the middle-aged and elderly groups (P < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found in these three indicators between the middle-aged and elderly groups (P > 0.05). Hospice care was chosen mainly to relieve pain and reduce unnecessary treatment, whereas the reasons for not choosing hospice care were mainly distrust and ethical concerns. CONCLUSION The family members of patients with advanced cancer had relatively low awareness of hospice care, while youth had a higher awareness of hospice care, acceptance, and adaptation attitudes, and were more willing to choose hospice care.