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Effects of meaning-based psychotherapy on post-traumatic growth and death anxiety in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Introduction

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world which imposes numerous psychological burdens on the patients. Psycho-spiritual interventions such as meaning-based therapies may help decrease these challenges. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to investigate the effects of meaning-based psychotherapy on post-traumatic growth and death anxiety of patients with cancer.

Methods

PubMed, Scopus, Proquest, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were searched until 30 September 2023. The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool was used to assess the quality of the included studies. A random-effect model was preferred, and statistical analysis was performed by STATA software version 17.

Results

A total of 17 studies were included in the systematic review. Eleven articles examined the impact of meaning-based interventions on death anxiety and six articles examined post-traumatic growth in cancer patients. Ten studies with a total of 555 participants were included for analysis of the effect of logotherapy versus routine care on death anxiety. Analysis showed a significant decrease effect of logotherapy versus routine care on death anxiety (SMD, − 4.05 (− 6.20, − 1.90); I2, 98.38%). Three studies with a total of 364 participants were included for analysis of the effect of logotherapy versus routine care on post-traumatic growth in patients with cancer. Analysis showed a positive but non-significant effect of logotherapy versus routine care on post-traumatic growth (SMD, 2.05 (− 0.91, 5.01); I2, 99.08%).

Conclusion

The qualitative analysis showed the positive impact of meaning-based psychotherapy interventions on death anxiety and post-traumatic growth in cancer patients, but the results of the meta-analysis on post-traumatic growth were not statistically significant. The review shows the need for more clinical trial studies in larger and more diverse samples in terms of cancer types and cultural background.

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Data availability

No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate the reviewers’ comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Maryam Shaygan

  2. Student Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Sahar Khaki, Davood Zarei, Fateme Beheshtaeen & Yasin Sadeghi

  3. Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Reza Moshfeghinia

  4. Research Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    Reza Moshfeghinia

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  1. Maryam Shaygan
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Contributions

Conceptualization: M.Sh. and F.B.; literature search: F.B., S. Kh., and D. Z.; data extraction: S. Kh. and D. Z.; data analysis: F.B., R. M., and Y.S.; revising and finalizing the manuscript: M.Sh. and F.B.

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Correspondence to Fateme Beheshtaeen.

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Shaygan, M., Khaki, S., Zarei, D. et al. Effects of meaning-based psychotherapy on post-traumatic growth and death anxiety in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Support Care Cancer 32, 251 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-024-08448-9

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