Family satisfaction with end-of-life care for cancer patients in a cluster randomized trial

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to examine similarities and differences in satisfaction with care between 112 family members who were close to patients who had participated in an intervention with a comprehensive palliative care program and the 68 family members in a conventional care program (controls). The FAMCARE Scale measured satisfaction with care at one month after the time of death. The majority of respondents reported high satisfaction with care. The respondents related to the patients in the intervention group reported significantly higher satisfaction with care than the respondents related to the patients in the control group. This difference remained unchanged after controlling for a range of other relevant factors: relationship to the deceased, sex and age of the respondent, sex and age of the patient, time since inclusion in the study, and place of death.