Background: The identification and management of unmet needs is an essential component of health care for the growing cancer patient population. Information about the prevalence of unmet need can help medical service planning/redesigning. Therefore, this study aimed to identify unmet needs in Iranian patients suffering from cancer. Methods: This cross-sectional correlational study was conducted on 650 cancer patients admitted to the major medical centers in Mashhad and Neyshabur by census sampling. The data was gathered by the Survivor Unmet Needs Survey (SUNS). Data were analyzed using ANOVA, t-test and Pearson correlation. Results: Most of participants were female (56%, n=263) and Mashhad resident (67. 1%, n=436). The most common cancers were colorectal (17. 8 %, n=116), stomach (13. 6%, n=88) and lung (9. 4%, n=62), respectively. The highest unmet needs score belonged to work and financial needs (2. 46 ± 0. 91), and the least was the emotional domain (1. 92± 0. 90). Among demographic factors, a significant relationship was found between resident places (p<0. 001), and cancer type (p<0. 0001). Conclusion: This is the first study addressing the unmet needs of cancer patients in Iran. It reveals that cancer patients had a relative high number of unmet needs; this shows the necessity of including these factors in the routine assessment of all cancer patients and planning treatment interventions based on their individual’ s need.

Background: We aimed to determine the socio-economic factors associated with unmet healthcare needs of the population aged 20 and over in Serbia. Methods: We used data from the 2013 National Health Survey (NHS) of the population of Serbia. We focused only on the data concerning the population aged 20 and over. The final sample thus included 13, 765 partici-pants. The logistic regression was used to examine the socio-economic factors associated with unmet health care needs. Results: According to the data obtained in this study, 26. 2% of the population aged 20 and over reported un-met health care needs during the previous 12 months. The multivariate analysis shows that significant indicators of unmet healthcare needs include: gender, age, marital status, level of education, financial and employment status. Conclusion: Females, the elderly and those with the lowest levels of education and household income, as well as those who are divorced and unemployed are at highest risk of unmet healthcare needs. Different policies and approaches should be taken into consideration when it comes to vulnerable population groups in order to re-duce the currently existing gaps to a minimum and provide more equal opportunities for health care to all citi-zens.

Introduction: Understanding the unmet care needs of breast cancer survivors is one of the important aspects of healthcare service. Objective: This study aimed to identify the unmet needs of breast cancer survivors. Materials and Methods: This research is an integrative review of evidence-based studies from five electronic databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar), which was conducted with no time limit until December 2020. Eligible articles were critically reviewed and scored using the mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT). Results: A total of 28 articles were reviewed, including 7 qualitative, 19 quantitative, and 2 mixed methods studies. “, Survival care needs”,are referred to information needs, unmet communication needs, and management of disease symptoms and complications. The “, unperceived support needs”,are referred to six themes of self-change, hurting hope, uncertain faith, unmet occupational needs, impaired sexual function, and forgotten social support. Conclusion: As the survival rate of breast cancer increases, developing flexible strategies for long-term and changing unmet needs of these patients should be a priority for health policymakers to promote care for breast cancer patients.