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Effectiveness of psychosocial interventions in pediatric oncology and hematology: a systematic review and three-level
Maximilian Hopfgartner1,2, Liesa Weiler-Wichtl2,3, Lisa Glinsky1
1Department of Cognition, Emotion, and Methods in Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Insights
Psychosocial interventions significantly improve health outcomes for children and adolescents with cancer. This systematic review and meta-analysis confirms the benefits of psychosocial care in pediatric oncology and hematology.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Psychosocial Health
- Evidence-Based Practice
Background:
- Cancer treatment in children and adolescents presents unique psychosocial challenges.
- Existing research on psychosocial interventions requires synthesis to guide clinical practice.
- A comprehensive assessment is needed to understand the impact on pediatric cancer patients' health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and meta-analyze the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions.
- To assess the impact on health outcomes in pediatric patients undergoing cancer treatment.
- To provide evidence supporting psychosocial care in pediatric oncology and hematology.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search across multiple databases.
- Inclusion of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with quantified health outcomes.
- Three-level meta-analytic approach applied to 74 eligible studies (N=4526).
Main Results:
- A medium, nominally significant summary effect estimate (Hedges g = 0.46).
- Subgroup analyses showed significant differences based on health outcome and publication year.
- Physiological outcomes had a smaller effect (g = 0.14), while recent publications showed larger effects.
Conclusions:
- Psychosocial interventions demonstrate a beneficial impact on health outcomes for pediatric oncology and hematology patients.
- Despite study quality variations, psychosocial care is effective across diverse contexts.
- This synthesis supports the integration of psychosocial support in pediatric cancer care.
Background:
This preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively assess the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions on health outcomes in pediatric patients undergoing treatment for cancer.
Methods:
A systematic literature search was conducted across multiple databases. The review included studies reporting samples with children and/or adolescents undergoing cancer treatment, focusing on randomised controlled trials of psychosocial interventions with a quantified health outcome. A three-level meta-analytic approach was utilised.
Results:
A total of 74 studies (total N = 4526), providing 204 effect sizes, was eligible. The summary effect estimate was of medium size and nominally significant (Hedges g = 0.46, 95% CI [0.33-0.59]). Subgroup analyses revealed significant differences for health outcome and publication year only. Physiological outcomes showed a smaller effect (g = 0.14, 95% CI [-0.16-0.43]), and more recent publications showed larger effect sizes.
Discussion:
This research synthesis provides evidence supporting the impact of psychosocial interventions on health outcomes in pediatric oncology and hematology patients. Despite variations in study quality and heterogeneity of the primary literature corpus, psychosocial care emerged as beneficial across a diverse range of contexts.
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