Barriers to effective cancer cachexia management: perspectives of healthcare professionals in Jordan.

PURPOSE: Cancer cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome characterized by severe muscle loss, metabolic disturbances, and unintentional weight loss, posing a major challenge in oncology care. Despite advances in palliative and nutritional management, it remains underdiagnosed and undertreated due to organizational and practice-related barriers. This study aims to identify the factors influencing Jordanian healthcare professionals' assessment and management of cancer cachexia.

METHODS

The awareness, confidence, and perceived barriers of healthcare professionals in cachexia care were assessed using a descriptive cross-sectional method. Oncology professionals, including nurses, nutritionists, and physiotherapists assigned to the largest government oncology hospital in Jordan, provided the data.

RESULTS

Over 80% of participants could not accurately define sarcopenia or undernutrition, highlighting major knowledge gaps. Overall, 81.1% failed to correctly define undernutrition and 65.5% failed to define cancer cachexia, with substantial gaps particularly among nurses. Healthcare professionals also reported low confidence in identifying and managing cachexia, worsened by unclear roles and limited institutional support. Only 6.8% knew who was responsible for identifying cachexia, while 8.1% knew who was responsible for its treatment. Key barriers included time constraints, lack of standardized screening tools, weak multidisciplinary collaboration, and limited access to evidence-based guidelines, with 43.9% reporting cachexia was not an organizational priority.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the urgent need for effective institutional guidelines, improved multidisciplinary collaboration, and organized educational programs to assist healthcare professionals in managing cancer cachexia. Enhancing cachexia care with specialized education and standard protocols might dramatically improve patient outcomes and progress cancer care approaches in Jordan.