A Systematic Review and Bayesian Network Meta-Analysis Investigating the Effectiveness of Psychological Short-Term Interventions in Inpatient Palliative Care Settings

Reka Schweighoffer, Andrea M. Schumacher, Richard Blaese, Silke Walter and Sandra Eckstein
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Reka Schweighoffer: Department for Clinical Research, University of Basel, Missionstrasse 64, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
Andrea M. Schumacher: Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstasse 62, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
Richard Blaese: Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstasse 62, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
Silke Walter: Chief Medical and Chief Nursing Office, Department of Practice Development and Research, University Hospital Basel, Hebelstr. 2, 4031 Basel, Switzerland
Sandra Eckstein: Department of Palliative Care, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, 4031 Basel, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-16

Abstract: This paper reviews and summarises the evidence of short-term psychosocial interventions (up to 12 sessions delivered within less than eight weeks) on anxiety, depression, and emotional distress in palliative patients in inpatient settings. We screened publications from the following five databases, Embase, PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and CINAHL, from their inception to 10 September 2021. The eligible studies included controls receiving standard palliative care, actively treated controls, and wait-list controls. Nine studies met the eligibility criteria and reported the effects of five psychosocial interventions in a total of N = 543 patients. We followed PRISMA-guidelines for outcome reporting and the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for assessing study quality. This paper used the network meta-analysis to compare multiple treatments by providing greater statistical power and the cross-validation of observed treatment effects, using the R package BUGSnet. Compared to control groups, the following psychosocial interventions in inpatient settings showed to be superior: life review interventions were the best ranked treatment for improving anxiety and distress, while the top ranked treatment for reducing depression was outlook intervention. The short-term psychosocial interventions investigated in this meta-analysis, especially life review intervention, are feasible and can potentially improve anxiety, depression, and distress in palliative inpatients and should therefore be offered in inpatient settings.

Keywords: palliative care; short-term psychotherapy; inpatient setting; meta-analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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