Reporting of "Quality of life": A systematic review and quantitative analysis of research publications in palliative care journals

Abstract

Context:Palliative care clinical practice depends upon an evidence-based decision-making process which in turn is based upon current research evidence. One of the most important goals in clinical palliative care is to improve patients’ quality of life (QoL).Aim:This study aimed to perform a quantitative analysis of research publications in palliative care journals for reporting characteristics of articles on QoL.Settings and Design:This was a systematic review of palliative care journals.Materials and Methods:Twelve palliative care journals were searched for articles with “QoL” in the title of the articles published from 2006 to 2010. The reporting rates of all journals were compared. The selected articles were categorized into assessment and treatment, and subsequently grouped into original and review articles. The original articles were subgrouped into qualitative and quantitative studies, and the review articles were grouped into narrative and systematic reviews. Each subgroup of original article category was further classified according to study designs.Statistical Analysis Used:Descriptive analysis using frequencies and percentiles was done using SPSS for Windows, version 11.5.Results:The overall reporting rate among all journals was 1.95% (71/3634), and Indian Journal of Palliative Care (IJPC) had the highest reporting rate of 5.08% (3/59), followed by Palliative Medicine (PM) with 3.71% (20/538), and Palliative and Supportive Care (PSC) with 3.64% (9/247) reporting.Conclusions:The overall reporting rate for QoL articles in palliative care journals was 1.95% and there were very few randomized clinical trials and systematic reviews found. The study findings indicate further high-quality research to establish an adequate evidence base for QoL.

Reporting of cancer-related fatigue in palliative care journals

“…This study is essentially the first of its kind of a review of palliative care journals utilizing a systematic approach to quantitatively identify reporting characteristics of articles on cancer-related fatigue (CRF (20). The reason why this study found a much smaller reporting rate could only be due to the relatively lesser emphasis given towards CRF in the palliative care journals.…”

Palliative radiotherapy in locally advanced head and neck cancer after failure of induction chemotherapy: Comparison of two fractionation schemes

“…Though endowed with simplicity and ease of use, the said questionnaire lacks the detailed structure as would more standardized questionnaires, such as the EORTC-H and N35 and FACT-G, for examples. [ 35 ],[ 36 ],[ 37 ]…”

Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses- A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Publications in Palliative Care Journals

“…Palliative care journals have an increased responsibility to publish more systematic reviews and metaanalyses and based on the findings of Bhandari et al, 101 systematic reviews were more cited than narrative reviews 122 and the journals publishing more systematic reviews had higher impact factor, and was widely cited in specialty and non-specialty journals alike. Future studies on association of impact factor 123 with reporting characteristics in palliative care journals [18][19][20] on the quantity and quality of systematic reviews are needed. Indian Journal of Palliative Care being the only journal representing palliative care research in developing countries and Asia, it has a huge responsibility to publish more highlevel evidence hierarchy-based research to improve the global profile 124 …”

“…Previously published studies on analysis of palliative care journals were on reporting of moral problems (ethical issues), 12 euthanasia, 13 chaplains and community-based clergy, 14,15 and, religion and spirituality, cancer pain, 18 pediatric palliative care 19 and quality of life. 20 The objective of this present study was to perform a bibliometric analysis of systematic reviews and meta-analyses in palliative care journals. 2.…”