SynthesisJournal of pain and symptom management2023
Palliative Care Interventions Effects on Psychological Distress: A Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of pain and symptom management, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Delivering Palliative Care in Mental Health Nursing Settings: A Systematic Review.Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing · 2026Pooled it
- PSilocybin for psYCHological and existential distress in PALliative care (PSYCHED-PAL): A single arm unblinded clinical trial.Palliative medicine · 2026Trial
- Mobile App-Facilitated Collaborative Palliative Care Intervention for Critically Ill Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA internal medicine · 2025Trial
- How social, psychological, and spiritual needs are supported in the last months of life: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing end-of-life interviews.Age and ageing · 2026Article
- Adapting a brief mindful breathing intervention for self-management of distress in advanced cancer patients: the RESOLVE-i study.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Psychosocial interventions indicate prolonged survival in cancer patients in a systematic review, meta-analysis, and multiverse meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Communications psychology · 2026Article
- Mental Healthcare Delivery in Palliative Care: Patient and Caregiver Perspectives.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2026Article
- Behavioral health as a palliative care priority in long-term services and supports: A cross-sectional study of staff.Palliative & supportive care · 2025Article
- Staff-Identified Palliative Care Needs Among Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE): A Survey Study.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2025Article
- Primary Mental Health Competencies for Hospice and Palliative Medicine Physicians: A Delphi Study.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2025Article
- A Review on the Management of Symptoms in Patients with Incurable Cancer.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Review
- The Impact of Interaction Standard Theory-Based Multi-Care on Postpartum Recovery, Coping Styles, Psychological Distress, and Quality of Life in Women with Postpartum Hemorrhage.International journal of women's health · 2025Article
- Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About the Psychiatric Manifestations of Nonpsychiatric Serious Illness and Treatments.Journal of palliative medicine · 2024Article
- Interventions for behavioral health comorbidities in the hospice setting: a scoping review.Annals of palliative medicine · 2024Article
- Palliative Care Psychiatry: Building Synergy Across the Spectrum.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- Article
- Mental Health Integration and Delivery in the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Setting: A National Survey of Clinicians.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundManaging psychological distress is an objective of palliative care. No meta-analysis has evaluated whether palliative care reduces psychological distress.
objectivesExamine the effects of palliative care on depression, anxiety, and general psychological distress for adults with life-limiting illnesses and their caregivers.
designWe searched PubMed, PsycInfo, Embase, and CINAHL for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of palliative care interventions. RCTs were included if they enrolled adults with life-limiting illnesses or their caregivers, reported data on psychological distress at 3 months after study intake, and if authors had described the intervention as "palliative care."
resultsWe identified 38 RCTs meeting our inclusion criteria. Many (14/38) included studies excluded participants with common mental health conditions. There were no statistically significant improvements in patient or caregiver anxiety (patient SMD: -0.008, P = 0.96; caregiver SMD: -0.21, P = 0.79), depression (patient SMD: -0.13, P = 0.25; caregiver SMD -0.27, P = 0.08), or psychological distress (patient SMD: 0.26, P = 0.59; caregiver SMD: 0.04, P = 0.78).
conclusionsPsychological distress is not likely to be reduced in the context of a typical palliative care intervention. The systemic exclusion of patients with common mental health conditions in more than 1/3 of the studies raises ethical questions about the goals of palliative care RCTS and could perpetuate inequalities.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.