Introduction
Materials and methods
Study design
Search for trials
Selection of trials
Inclusion criteria | Exclusion criteria |
---|---|
Randomized controlled clinical trials | Studies including patients with metastatic or advanced stage cancer |
Studies on breast cancer | Studies including patients with psychiatric problems |
Studies comparing a group receiving social support with a control groupa
| Not an intervention study |
Intervention studies that included exercise as social support | |
Studies not reporting adequate information on the randomization process in the “Materials and methods” or “Results” section | |
Studies not reporting health-related quality of life (HRQOL) data using a QOL questionnaire |
Author | Years | Country | Follow-up (month) |
n (intervention/control) (610/549) | Social support intervention | Period of the intervention (months) | Sessions | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sandgren [20]a
| 2003 | USA | 5 | 78/55 | Psychoeducational support | Health education, emotional expression | 3 | 6 |
Meneses [18] | 2007 | USA | 3, 6 | 125/131 | Breast Cancer Education Intervention (BCEI) psychoeducational support | 6 | 8 | |
Beatty [15] | 2010 | Australia | 3, 6 | 25/24 | Self-help workbook (each chapter containing educational information on common medical and psychosocial issues) | 6 | ||
Gustafson [21] | 2001 | USA | 2, 5 | 121/125 | Other psychosocial Support | Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS) | 5 | |
Sandgren [20]a
| 2003 | USA | 5 | 89/55 | Health education, emotional expression | 3 | 6 | |
Owen [19] | 2005 | USA | 3 | 62/62 | Online coping program | 3 | ||
Gellaitry [17] | 2010 | UK | 1, 3, 6 | 38/42 | Writing intervention (emotional disclosure, cognitive appraisal, benefit finding, looking to the future) | 6 | 4 | |
Salzer [16] | 2010 | USA | 4, 12 | 50/26 | Internet peer support | 12 | ||
Cousson-Gelie [14] | 2011 | France | 1b
| 22/29 | Specific intervention (a specific psychosocial intervention) | 1 | 8 |
Data extraction
Statistical analysis
Results
Study characteristics
Authors | Questionnaires | Global QOL | BCS | Physical | Emotional (psychological) | Social | Functional | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intervention | Control | Intervention | Control | Intervention | Control | Intervention | Control | Intervention | Control | Intervention | Control | ||
Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | ||
Sandgren [20]a
| FACT-B | 77.6 (12.7) | 77.6 (10.9) | 67.2 (18.1) | 65.9 (15.9) | 80.5 (18.9) | 80.1 (14.8) | 84.5 (16.0) | 82.6 (14.0) | 75.8 (10.7) | 77.3 (10.9) | 80.6 (18.9) | 83.0 (14.8) |
Meneses [18]b
| QOL-BC | 71.7 (13.1) | 69.0 (13.1) | 81.8 (16.7) | 80.3 (16.7) | 67.5 (15.6) | 62.0 (15.6) | 73.5 (19.8) | 71.0 (19.8) | ||||
Beatty [15] | EORTC QLQ C30 | 69.0 (13.6) | 72.2 (13.6) | ||||||||||
Gustafson [21] | FACT-B | 67.6 (18.2) | 64.7 (18.2) | 76.3 (12.6) | 75.3 (12.6) | 75.8 (18.7) | 74.7 (18.7) | 70.4 (23.0) | 69.9 (23.0) | ||||
Sandgren [20]a
| FACT-B | 79.0 (11.4) | 77.6 (10.9) | 69.5 (15.1) | 65.9 (15.9) | 79.6 (18.8) | 80.0 (14.8) | 84.8 (15.6) | 82.6 (14.0) | 77.3 (12.1) | 77.3 (10.9) | 83.5 (18.8) | 83.0 (14.8) |
Owen [19] | FACT-B | 59.9 (7.3) | 57.6 (8.0) | 70.8 (13.3) | 66.4 (17.5) | 59.4 (9.4) | 55.1 (13.0) | ||||||
Gellaitry [17] | FACT-B | 76.1 (13.8) | 75.0 (14.8) | ||||||||||
Salzer [16]b
| FACT-B | 70.5 (14.5) | 76.9 (14.5) | ||||||||||
Cousson-Gelie [14] | EORTC QLQ C30 | 68.1 (16.1) | 69.4 (17.6) | 82.0 (15.8) | 86.6 (13.2) | 74.2 (19.8) | 83.9 (18.5) | 82.6 (21.4) | 90.7 (18.1) |
Outcome measure | All (psychoeducational support + other psychosocial support) | Psychoeducational supportb
| Other psychosocial support | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean difference (95 % CI) |
p value | Mean difference (95 % CI) |
p value | Mean difference (95 % CI) |
p value | |
Global QOL | 0.968 (−0.721 to 2.656) | 0.261 | 1.008 (−1.775 to 3.790) | 0.478 | 0.620 (−1.957 to 3.197) | 0.637 |
BCSa
| 3.110 (0.504 to 5.716) | 0.019 | – | – | 3.540 (0.641 to 6.439) | 0.017 |
Physical | 0.124 (−2.621 to 2.870) | 0.929 | 1.149 (−2.228 to 4.527) | 0.505 | −1.870 (−6.583 to 2.842) | 0.453 |
Emotional (psychological) | 2.360 (−0.195 to 4.915) | 0.070 | 4.167 (0.760 to 7.574) | 0.017 | 1.338 (−2.160 to 4.836) | 0.453 |
Social | −0.088 (−2.155 to 1.979) | 0.934 | 0.185 (−3.686 to 4.055) | 0.926 | −0.269 (−3.536 to 2.998) | 0.872 |
Functional | −0.427 (−3.808 to 2.954) | 0.805 | – | – | 0.500 (−3.600 to 4.599) | 0.811 |