Abstract CN69
Background
Therapeutic procedures in hospitalized children and adolescents with cancer comprise a source of stress and anxiety. Educational interventions have demonstrated favorable results in children undergoing these procedures although solid guidance for children and adolescents with cancer remains scarce. We aimed to explore the effectiveness of educational interventions in children and adolescents undergoing cancer therapy.
Methods
We conducted a systematic review with prespecified inclusion criteria. Included studies involved children and adolescents, with any kind of educational intervention applied for therapeutic procedures, compared with no educational interventions, and measured stress/anxiety and fear as outcomes. The information sources used were MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library, from inception until September 2021. The RoB2 tool was used to assess the risk of bias, whereas our results were synthesized in a narrative form according to the research questions, due to the heterogeneity of included studies. The study followed the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and was registered to PROSPERO with registration number: CRD42021281350.
Results
Six studies were included in the review that involved 643 children and adolescents. The interventions applied included psychoeducational, technology-based, or interventions that involved both methods. The reviewed studies failed to generate statistically significant results in terms of outcomes of interest, mainly due to their small sample size.
Conclusions
The findings showed the scarcity of studies that aim at anxiety, fear, and stress reduction with the use of educational approaches that have been explicitly designed to be utilized in children and adolescents with cancer.
Clinical trial identification
Editorial acknowledgement
Legal entity responsible for the study
The authors.
Funding
Has not received any funding.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.