Clinical and cost-saving effects of psychoeducational interventions with surgical patients: a meta-analysis

Meta-analysis of 102 studies was conducted to examine how psychoeducational interventions influence recovery, pain, psychological well-being, and satisfaction with care among hospitalized adult surgery patients. Statistically reliable and positive effects were found on each of these four classes of outcome. Further analyses showed that the effects could not be attributed to biases associated with the decision to publish, low internal validity, measurement subjectively, or a Hawthorne effect. Analyses of the subset of outcomes with most direct cost implications showed that positive, cost-relevant effects were obtained across a wide range of patients, treatment providers, hospital settings, and historic periods.