Wen LL, Li JY, Zhang SY. Impact of “four-step” death education on life quality and negative emotions in advanced esophageal cancer patients and families. World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; 18(1): 112238 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i1.112238]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Shu-Ying Zhang, Department of Pain Rehabilitation, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 12 Jiankang Road, Shijiazhuang 050011, Hebei Province, China. 48401015@hebmu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Cohort Study
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Jan 27, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 28, 2026
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Publication Name
World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery
ISSN
1948-9366
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Wen LL, Li JY, Zhang SY. Impact of “four-step” death education on life quality and negative emotions in advanced esophageal cancer patients and families. World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; 18(1): 112238 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i1.112238]
World J Gastrointest Surg. Jan 27, 2026; 18(1): 112238 Published online Jan 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i1.112238
Impact of “four-step” death education on life quality and negative emotions in advanced esophageal cancer patients and families
Li-Li Wen, Jian-Yu Li, Shu-Ying Zhang
Li-Li Wen, Department of Geriatrics, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050011, Hebei Province, China
Jian-Yu Li, Intensive Care Unit, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050011, Hebei Province, China
Shu-Ying Zhang, Department of Pain Rehabilitation, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050011, Hebei Province, China
Author contributions: Wen LL designed the experiments and conducted clinical data collection; Li JY performed postoperative follow-up and recorded the data, conducted the collation and statistical analysis; Wen LL and Zhang SY make critical revisions to important knowledge content. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University (Approval No. 2024KS141).
Informed consent statement: The ethics committee agrees to waive informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Shu-Ying Zhang, Department of Pain Rehabilitation, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 12 Jiankang Road, Shijiazhuang 050011, Hebei Province, China. 48401015@hebmu.edu.cn
Received: August 19, 2025 Revised: September 26, 2025 Accepted: November 18, 2025 Published online: January 27, 2026 Processing time: 155 Days and 1.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study evaluated the impact of “four-step death education” intervention on the quality of life and negative emotions of postoperative patients with advanced esophageal cancer and their caregivers. The intervention, which included information provision, emotional support, life review, meaning exploration, and end-of-life care preparation, showed improvements in quality of life, reduced caregiver burden, and alleviated anxiety and depression. Key mechanisms involved knowledge empowerment, emotional release, meaning creation, and collaborative end-of-life planning. These findings suggest that incorporating such death education into standard palliative care may enhance the overall well-being of patients and families facing terminal illness, though further research is needed.
