title: Meta-analysis of psychosocial interventions on survival time in patients with cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was to evaluate the effects of psychosocial interventions on survival in adult patients with cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE via PubMed, Cochrane Library CENTRAL, CINAHL, and Korean electronic databases (September 2014) were searched. Methodological quality was assessed using Cochrane's Risk of Bias for randomized studies. The RevMan 5.3 program of the Cochrane library was used for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen randomized controlled trials met the inclusion criteria, with a total of 2940 participants. Overall, psychosocial interventions was not associated with better survival (HR = .83, 95% CI [.68, 1.10], p = .06, I(2) = 64%). In subgroup analysis, based on six trials with 1448 subjects, psychoeducational interventions for cancer patients with non-metastatic at intervention implementation resulted in a 41% reduction in the risk of dying of cancer (HR = .59, 95% CI [.49, .71], p < .001, I(2) = 0%). For psychoeducational intervention, significant survival benefit were found when health staff delivered the intervention and at a follow-up time of more than 10 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of psychoeducational interventions for cancer patients at early stage appeared to have beneficial effects on survival, preferably for delivering of health staff. However, conduct of further psychosocial studies with adequate power will lead to better understanding of the effects of treatments on survival outcome.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Nursing , Sahmyook University , Seoul , South Korea.
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: a Department of Nursing , Sahmyook University , Seoul , South Korea.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: b Department of Preventive Medicine , Institute for Evidence-based Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University , Seoul , South Korea.
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: b Department of Preventive Medicine , Institute for Evidence-based Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University , Seoul , South Korea.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D011613:Psychotherapy; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: intervention studies; meta-analysis; neoplasm; survival