Measuring the Level of Confidence and Identifying Gaps in Providing Palliative Care Services to Children by the Adult Palliative Care Team in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objectives:

The field of pediatric palliative care (PPC) has grown in the last few years because of increased awareness of the unique requirements of children at the terminal stage. In this study, we aimed to analyze the willingness and confidence of adult palliative care physicians in Saudi Arabia who provide palliative care services to children in need.

Methods:

This study employed a cross-sectional design to collect data from a large sample of palliative care physicians in Saudi Arabia. This study included palliative care physicians with a Saudi license who worked in Saudi Arabia and cared for patients with palliative needs.

Results:

According to this study, palliative care physicians in Saudi Arabia felt unprepared to provide PPC while maintaining a good attitude toward the practice. Most palliative care physicians believed that their training was insufficient because they had little experience in this field. In addition, they are less comfortable managing pain and symptoms than interacting with families of palliative children.

Conclusions:

In Saudi Arabia, palliative care physicians are eager to offer PPC; however, they need requisite resources and training. In addition, we found that palliative care physicians and their patients would benefit from further support and assistance from a PPC team.