Palliative Care Research in a Developing Country: A Scoping Review.

Among the many barriers to universal access to palliative care is the lack of research. This is most prominent in low-to-middle-income countries such as the Philippines. The objective of this study is to examine the literature undertaken in the Philippines regarding palliative care and identify the characteristics of the studies and gaps in the literature. A scoping review methodology was utilised to identify and examine publications regarding palliative care in the Philippines from January 1994 to November 2024. Data were charted with respect to year of publication, research methodologies used, study population demographics, area of palliative care focused on and author characteristics. This review identified 46 publications in the Philippines regarding palliative care. Approximately 32% of the studies were cross-sectional studies involving questionnaires, while the rest were literature reviews, editorials and retrospective analyses. Half of the identified studies were conducted in collaboration with authors from other countries. The majority of the Filipino authors were affiliated with institutions in the National Capital Region where training programs are held. Most of the studies focused on the domains of pain management and end-of-life care. Eighty-eight percent of the publications were about adult patients. This study identified factors that could empower research development as well as barriers that hinder the growth of palliative care in the Philippines. This highlights the impact of global initiatives on the progress of the country in terms of palliative care. The data show the positive impact of established training programs and the development of standardised tools for assessing quality of life in the production of research and delivery of palliative care services. This study also identified gaps in knowledge, especially regarding the holistic role of palliative care.