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Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life · Journal article
BMC Palliative Care · September 9, 2026
Early or partial results. Treat as a signal, not a conclusion.
This scoping review synthesizes 30 publications to identify 35 pediatric palliative care referral criteria for children with cancer, organized into seven thematic categories (diagnosis, prognosis, complication, therapy, symptom, psychosocial, and care-provision related). The work provides a foundation for guideline development but does not empirically test whether these criteria improve referral timeliness or clinical outcomes.
Scoping review. Studies describing referral criteria or screening scales for pediatric palliative care in children with cancer; excluded if population exclusively older than 19 years.. Intervention: Identification and thematic synthesis of published pediatric palliative care referral criteria.. n = 30.
30 publications included in the scoping review 35 criteria identified and published individually or as part of screening scales Seven thematic categories of criteria established: diagnosis-related, prognosis-related, complication-related, therapy-related, symptom-related, psychosocial, and care-provision-related
Safety was not reported in the material analysed. Check the source before drawing any conclusion about harm.
This synthesis can inform development of SPPC referral guidelines to promote timely and equitable access to specialist pediatric palliative care. Implementation and validation of derived criteria in clinical practice remains necessary to confirm effectiveness.
A scoping review synthesizing existing literature on referral criteria without empirical testing of effectiveness; identifies criteria for potential guideline development but lacks implementation data or outcome validation.
As stated by the source record.
Quoted from the source exactly as published.
This synthesis can inform development of SPPC referral guidelines to promote timely and equitable access to specialist pediatric palliative care. Implementation and validation of derived criteria in clinical practice remains necessary to confirm effectiveness.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
The early integration of specialized pediatric palliative care (SPPC) is an accepted standard in pediatric oncology. However, many children are referred to SPPC services late in their cancer journey or not at all. Adult oncology studies suggest that the implementation of lists of automatic referral criteria can be effective in prompting timely palliative care referrals. We sought to identify, describe and compare criteria in the existing pediatric research literature that can be used to prompt SPPC referrals for children with cancer. We conducted a scoping review that included a comprehensive literature search of OVID MEDLINE®, Embase, CINAHL and Web of Science databases from 2010 to June 2023. We included studies describing the development, implementation or assessment of lists of criteria or screening scales; qualitative studies or surveys describing perspectives on referral criteria; and palliative care program descriptions or reports that provided referral criteria. Studies were excluded if the population was exclusively older than 19 years, the article was unavailable in English or criteria were not published in English. Pairs of reviewers screened articles and extracted data. We extracted lists of individual criteria and selected criteria that were included in screening scales. We then used a thematic approach to describe and group criteria. We included 30 publications. We identified 35 criteria that were published individually or as part of screening scales. We compared criteria and grouped them into seven thematic categories: diagnosis-related (e.g. metastatic cancer diagnosis), prognosis-related (e.g. relapsed disease), complication-related (e.g. multi-organ failure), therapy-related (e.g. phase I study enrollment), symptom-related (e.g. uncontrolled symptoms), psychosocial (e.g. poor coping) and care-provision-related criteria (e.g. need for home care). We collated a comprehensive list of SPPC referral criteria relevant to children with cancer. This list can inform the development of SPPC referral guidelines for children with cancer to ensure SPPC access is timely and equitable.
Taken from the source record, never inferred. Follow any of these and new work involving them reaches your briefing.