Pharmacist perceptions of a “good death” and differences in perception between patients with cancer, oncologists, and oncology nurses: a questionnaire survey

BACKGROUND: For pharmacists expected to encounter the deaths of many of their patients in the near future, it is important to understand the perception of a “good death” for patients with cancer who are likely to be aware of the circumstances of their poor prognosis. In this study, we clarified pharmacists’ perceptions of a “good death” and considered the differences in perception among patients with cancer, oncologists, and oncology nurses. METHODS: From April to June 2022, an anonymous questionnaire survey was conducted on pharmacists working in hospitals and pharmacies and on members of the Japanese Society for Pharmaceutical Palliative Care and Sciences. The questionnaire consisted of 57 questions, called attributes, developed by Miyashita et al. to investigate the perception of “good death” in Japanese cancer medicine. The importance of those attributes was investigated using a 7-point Likert scale. RESULTS: Three thousand four hundred thirty-two pharmacists were made aware of this survey, and 207 participated in the survey. The responses of pharmacists to the 57 questions were very similar to those of the oncologists. Among them, “Fighting against disease until one’s last moment” and “Not making trouble for others” had very low importance, which was the most significantly different from the responses of patients with cancer. “Fighting against disease until one’s last moment” tended to be significantly underestimated by pharmacists engaged in patient guidance and interview compared to that by pharmacists not engaged in the duty (p = 0.02). Also, when we compared pharmacists with or without qualifications related to cancer and palliative care, there was no significant difference in the importance of “Fighting against disease until one’s last moment.” However, the importance of “Not making trouble for others” for qualified pharmacists was significantly underestimated (p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: Since pharmacists understand the limits of chemotherapy, they may want to be close to the patient but may not strongly agree with the “Fighting against cancer” component that patients with cancer prefer. It may be necessary to reconsider better ways of approaching the wishes and satisfaction of patients with cancer under the care of medical professionals in the field of oncology. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40780-022-00269-4.