The Association of Filial Piety and Financial Toxicity With Surrogate Decisional Conflict Among Adult Children of ICU Patients With Cancer

Abstract

Context

Filial piety, a Confucian cultural value, is deeply rooted in the parent-child relationship in Chinese and many other Asian cultures. Adult children often experience decisional conflict when making decisions for their critically ill parents. However, the quantitative relationship between filial piety and surrogate decisional conflict has yet to be explored.

Objective

To examine the associations of both financial toxicity and filial piety with surrogate decisional conflict among adult children of intensive care unit (ICU) patients with cancer.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in an ICU of a tertiary hospital in Guangzhou, China. A sample of 180 adult children serving as surrogates for patients with cancer completed the survey after the patients had been admitted to the ICU for at least 4 days. The measures included the family version of the Decision Conflict Scale, the Filial Piety Values Scale for Children of Patients with Advanced Cancer, and the Comprehensive Scores for Financial Toxicity. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine factors associated with surrogate decisional conflict.

Results

The adult children of ICU patients with cancer experienced a high level of surrogate decisional conflict. Surrogate decisional conflict was associated with more siblings ($\beta =0.183,p=0.017$), lower levels of filial piety ($\beta =-0.177,p=0.018$) and severe financial toxicity ($\beta =-0.159,p=0.045$).

Conclusion

Healthcare providers are recommended to provide culturally sensitive support for Chinese adult children making decisions for their parents with cancer in the ICU, such as offering strategies to mitigate the negative impact of financial toxicity and helping surrogates clarify their filial piety values to relieve decisional conflict.