Our objective was to conduct a scoping review and narrative synthesis of qualitative studies that examined experiences of partners of cancer patients. We searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus for qualitative studies involving adult (≥18 years) partners (e.g., in a romantic relationship) of patients diagnosed with cancer and published in English. We extracted findings from included studies, along with key study and participant characteristics, and applied a narrative summary approach, a process that allowed us to identify synthesized themes across studies. Our search identified 15,729 records, of which 159 met the inclusion criteria. Included studies primarily collected data through interviews, with participants being predominantly female and middle-aged (55.2 ± 8.3 years). Partners were commonly in relationships with patients diagnosed with breast, genital–urinary, or gastrointestinal cancer. Our synthesis identified four conceptual themes—transformation of relationship dynamics and roles, distress and burden, coping strategies, and unmet needs and support gaps—which reflect the emotional, relational, and practical challenges partners navigate throughout the cancer trajectory. These findings highlight the need to better recognize and support the role of partners within the cancer care landscape as their wellbeing impacts care and experiences of patients with cancer.
Kang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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