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. 2025 May 20;33(6):485.
doi: 10.1007/s00520-025-09539-x.

The association between resilience and palliative care problems and needs in cancer patients: a cross-sectional study

Nan Shen  1 , Sylvia Njunga Malema  1 , Xiumei Yang  2 , Qianrong Yang  1 , Hailiang Ran  3 , Qiuyan He  4 , Yongpei Hu  1 , Lirong Guo  1 , Jiao Yang  5 , Ying Zhang  6
Affiliations

The association between resilience and palliative care problems and needs in cancer patients: a cross-sectional study

Nan Shen et al. Support Care Cancer. .

Abstract

Purpose: Cancer patients often face significant challenges, making palliative care essential for improving their quality of life. Resilience is recognized as a key factor in coping with cancer-related challenges. This study investigates the association between resilience and palliative care problems and needs among cancer patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1,132 cancer patients at Yunnan Cancer Hospital. Participants completed the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-10 (CD-RISC-10) and the Problems and Needs in Palliative Care Questionnaire-Short Version (PNPC-sv). Linear regression analyses were used to examine the association between resilience and palliative care problems and needs, adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Results: Patients with higher resilience reported significantly fewer palliative care problems (coefficients b: -0.39, 95% CI: -0.51, -0.28, p < 0.001) and needs (coefficients b: -0.41, 95% CI: -0.53, -0.29, p < 0.001) compared to those with lower resilience. Key factors associated with increased palliative care problems and needs included residential area, and cancer diagnosis.

Conclusions: Resilience is associated with palliative care problems and needs in cancer patients. Assessing resilience levels may assist healthcare providers in identifying patients who are particularly vulnerable. Future studies should explore causal relationships and incorporate multi-center designs to validate these findings.

Keywords: End-of-Life care; Palliative care; Palliative care needs; Palliative care problems; Resilience.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: This study was conducted in line with the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee of Yunnan Cancer Hospital (ky2021133). Consent to participate: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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