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Supportive care and unmet needs in patients with melanoma: a mixed-methods systematic review

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Abstract

Purpose

Understanding the supportive care and unmet care needs of patients with melanoma is essential for informing the development or evaluation of supportive care services and interventions for patients with melanoma.

Methods

Three electronic databases (CINAHL, Medline and PsycINFO) were searched from 2000 to November 2019 to identify eligible quantitative and qualitative studies. The quality of evidence was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.

Results

Fourteen studies (10 quantitative, three qualitative and one mixed-methods) were included. Informational care and unmet needs were the most commonly reported in patients with melanoma, followed by psychological, then social and physical. Findings were consistent between quantitative and qualitative studies; however, findings from qualitative data complimented those from quantitative data by providing more depth and insight into the prevalence, effects and associations of the different care needs. Patients’ care and unmet needs were found to also be present all throughout their cancer journey and vary according to the stage throughout.

Conclusion

Melanoma-specific care and unmet care needs were identified most commonly in the informational domain, followed by psychological, social and physical domains. Oncology practitioners should consider enhancing their supportive care interventions throughout the journey of patient with melanoma to reduce or address their unmet needs. The results of this mixed-methods systematic review warrant further research using robust study designs, melanoma-specific validated outcome measures and complete reporting of data in terms of disease stage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing and Cancer and Palliative Care Outcomes Centre, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia

    Hong Fu, Laisa Teleni, Megan Crichton & Raymond Javan Chan

  2. Princess Alexandra Hospital, Metro South Hospital and Health Services, Brisbane, Australia

    Hong Fu & Raymond Javan Chan

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia

    Megan Crichton

Authors
  1. Hong Fu
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  2. Laisa Teleni
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  3. Megan Crichton
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  4. Raymond Javan Chan
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Hong Fu, Raymond Chan; protocol development: Hong Fu, Laisa Teleni and Raymond Chan; literature search: Hong Fu; title and abstract screening: Hong Fu; full-text review, data extraction, data synthesis and original draft preparation: Hong Fu, Laisa Teleni and Megan Crichton; reviewing and editing: all authors.

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Correspondence to Raymond Javan Chan.

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Fu, H., Teleni, L., Crichton, M. et al. Supportive care and unmet needs in patients with melanoma: a mixed-methods systematic review. Support Care Cancer 28, 3489–3501 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05464-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05464-3

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