Clinical trial · Interventional
Comprehensive Palliative Care for Cancer Patients in Vietnam
Effectiveness of Comprehensive Palliative Care on Improving Quality of Life and Psychological Distress Among Cancer Patients in Vietnam - a Randomized Control Trial
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
There are exponential increases in cancer incidence and mortality worldwide and in Vietnam. Cancer affects patient's quality of life, which can be improved by palliative care. In Vietnam, due to a shortage in human resources for social workers, palliative care is mainly focused on medical aspect. A new comprehensive palliative care model, that provides multidisciplinary support including psychosocial support to patients, was developed. This research's objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of comprehensive palliative care (CPC) on improving the quality of life among cancer patients at a hospital in Vietnam. This randomized control trial is performed among 100 advanced cancer patients at University Medical Center at Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam.The measurement tools include the Vietnamese Palliative Care Outcome Scale (VietPOS), the 5-level EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). Data collection has been conducting through face-to-face interviews three times: baseline, week 3, and week 6. Paired t-test (or Wilcoxon Rank sum test) and Student-t-test (or Mann -Whitney U test) will be used to evaluate and compare changes in quality of life and psychological distress within and between groups. Intention- to - treat analysis is used in the study. This is the first research that study the effectiveness of a palliative care psychosocial intervention on cancer patients in Vietnam. The result can be used to advocate for multidisciplinary palliative care in Vietnam.
Conditions
Conditions (3)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | CURATED_BROADER | 0.78 |
| Psychological Distress | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Quality of Life | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comprehensive palliative care | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Standard of care | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Intervention
- description
- Comprehensive palliative care (CPC) is multidisciplinary inpatient care that aims to respond to patients' suffering in many aspects: physical, psychological, social, and spiritual. It is basically a standard palliative care service in Vietnam with additional psychosocial and spiritual support with a multidisciplinary approach. CPC is provided by seven doctors, 20 nurses, two social workers, a pharmacist, and a psychologist. CPC could go parallel with oncology care or be the primary care for patients. The psychosocial and spiritual supports are mainly provided by social workers. Psychologist and religious will get involved when patient need advance care. The psychosocial intervention is individualized for each patient based on their individual situation, issues, and decision.
- interventionNames
- Other: Comprehensive palliative care
- type
- OTHER
- label
- Control
- description
- Patients who are randomized to the control group will receive the standard palliative care in Vietnam. They can assess to the same palliative care for their physical symptoms as patients in the intervention group do. They can also access psychosocial and spiritual support from the resources that available for them before entering to the study. If they request for social or financial support, their care team can reach out to the social work departments. Patients who are in need can receive mental health care from psychiatrists from the psychiatrist unit at UMC.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 70 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Aged from 18 to 70 * In their first week of hospitalization * Diagnosed with stage 3 or 4 of any cancer. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with HIV, current pregnancy, or cognitive problems * Could not communicate, * Could not speak Vietnamese, * Could not provide informed consent and questionnaires. * Currently receiving palliative care services from other medical institutions
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available