title: Psychosocial telephone interventions for patients with cancer and survivors: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Over one third of patients with cancer experience elevated psychosocial distress. As screening for distress becomes more common, the number of patients referred for psychosocial care will increase. Psychosocial telephone interventions are recommended as a convenient and exportable alternative to in-person interventions addressing psychosocial distress. This study reviews the efficacy of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychosocial telephone interventions for patients with cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed RCTs evaluating telephone interventions in adult patients with cancer across the survivorship continuum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Through a database search, 480 articles were identified. After manual review, 13 were included, with 7 additional studies identified by back citation, totaling 20 studies. Participants were largely Caucasian, highly educated, with mean age ranging from 49 to 75 years. Most participants were patients with breast cancer (n = 13 studies). Sample sizes were generally small, with most patients recruited from large medical centers. Only one screened for psychosocial need. Interventions varied greatly in length and intensity. Eight studies reported significant effects post-intervention in the hypothesized direction on at least one psychosocial outcome measure. Of these eight studies, four included more than one follow-up assessment; of these, only one reported significant effects at last follow-up. No clear commonalities were found among studies reporting significant effects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Methodological concerns and lack of consistency in adherence to CONSORT reporting guidelines were identified. This body of research would benefit from well-designed, theory-based RCTs adequately powered to provide more definitive evidence for intervention efficacy. This will probably require multi-institutional collaborations, guided by intervention and research methodology best practices.
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado Cancer Center, Cancer Prevention and Control, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Okuyama
authors.affiliation: Colorado School of Public Health, Department of Community and Behavioral Health, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Whitney
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5763-335X
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: University of Colorado Cancer Center, Cancer Prevention and Control, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ricklefs
authors.affiliation: Colorado School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics and Informatics, Aurora, CO, USA.
authors.forename: Zung Vu
authors.initials: ZV
authors.lastname: Tran
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D018401:Sample Size; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D013689:Telephone
keywords: cancer; oncology; psycho-oncology; review; telephone intervention