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The Effectiveness of Interventions Based on Symptom Clusters for Symptom Burden and Quality of Life Among Cancer Patients: A Meta‐Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Year: 2026

Type: article

Study designs: Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis

Abstract: Cancer patients suffer severe physical-psychological symptoms presenting as "symptom clusters," causing heavy symptom burden and poor quality of life. Researchers have studied symptom clusters, but whether they could improve symptom burden and quality of life for cancer patients is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions based on symptom clusters for symptom burden of different types of clusters and quality of life among cancer patients. A systematic search was performed across six databases from inception to 17 December 2024. The revised Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to check the methodological quality. Data analysis was performed in RStudio, and the intervention effects were explored through a random or fixed effects model. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to evaluate the robustness of the results. We ultimately included nine randomized controlled trials that met the criteria, which were published from 2012 to 2024 and had 998 participants. The results suggested that interventions based on symptom clusters improved symptom burden of mixed symptom clusters (SMD = -0.25, 95% CI [-0.47, -0.04]) and quality of life (SMD = 0.38, 95% CI [0.12, 0.65]), while the relief in symptom burden of physical (SMD = -1.54, 95% CI [-3.34, 0.27]), psychological (SMD = -3.29, 95% CI [-8.09, 1.50]) and gastrointestinal (SMD = -2.24, 95% CI [-4.99, 0.52]) symptom clusters was not significant. To conclude, interventions based on symptom clusters are deemed crucial for improving symptom burden and quality of life among cancer patients. In the future, professionals could tailor interventions considering intervention components and individualized characteristics to further benefit cancer patients. Trial and Protocol Registration: Name: International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews Number: CRD42023474527.Website link: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/#recordDetails.

Source: Research in Nursing & Health

DOI: 10.1002/nur.70075

Authors: Linna Li, Yunhuan Li, Qianwen Yan, Yang Chen, Xiaolin Hu

Institutions: Sichuan University, West China Hospital of Sichuan University

Language: English

Topic: Cancer survivorship and care

Subfield: Oncology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: China Medical Board, National Natural Science Foundation of China