In our study of patients with muscle-invasive bladder
cancer treated with cystectomy, patients who received
concurrent palliative care in addition to usual care had
better postoperative outcomes over 6 months, including
improved fatigue, depression, quality of life, and posttraumatic
growth. Changes for fatigue and anxiety/depression
showed a statistically significant difference among intervention
patients, with decreasing fatigue and anxiety/
depression postoperatively, whereas control patients demonstrated
increasing fatigue and anxiety/depression. Intervention
patients reported their lowest levels of fatigue
4 months postoperatively, whereas control patients reported
their maximal fatigue at this time point. Similarly, quality of
life improved for intervention patients but decreased for
control patients postoperatively. The change in posttraumatic
growth over time was greater for intervention patients
than for control patients.