British journal of cancer
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British journal of cancer · Jan 1997
Multicenter StudyFamily anxiety in advanced cancer: a multicentre prospective study in Ireland.
Six home care services in Southern Ireland collected data on a total of 757 patients over a 6-month period. Patient and family well-being were measured using the staff-rated Support Team Assessment Schedule and Karnofsky Index. Five hundred and eight patients died while in care, 75% of whom died at home. ⋯ Discriminant analysis produced two predictive models. In model 1, family anxiety at referral strongly predicts family anxiety in the last week of life. In model 2, family anxiety at referral is excluded from the analysis, and the significant predictor factors at referral for family anxiety in the last 4 weeks of life are patient symptom control, sex of patient, diagnosis and patient age.