Trial reportSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2025
The effect of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) on pain and depression in cancer patients: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy of psychological interventions versus standard care for cancer pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeCancer patients frequently experience both physical and psychological challenges, including chronic pain and depression. While conventional treatments primarily rely on pharmacological interventions, complementary approaches such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) may help alleviate both physical and psychological distress. This study aimed to assess the effects of EFT on pain and depression in individuals with cancer.
methodsThis randomized controlled trial was conducted in the oncology ward of a high-capacity hospital in eastern Turkey between December 2023 and March 2024. Seventy cancer patients were randomly assigned to either the EFT group (n = 35) or the control group (n = 35). The EFT group received four structured 30-min sessions over two weeks, led by a certified EFT practitioner, with symptom reassessment after each session. The control group received routine care. Data were collected using a Participant Information Form, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) before and after the intervention.
resultsVAS scores in the EFT group significantly decreased from 4.82 ± 2.47 to 2.44 ± 1.97 (p < 0.05), whereas the control group showed a smaller reduction from 5.36 ± 2.42 to 4.25 ± 2.75 (p > 0.05). BDI scores in the EFT group improved significantly, decreasing from 31.44 ± 17.68 to 18.44 ± 7.0 (p < 0.05), while the control group's scores increased from 27.94 ± 16.26 to 31.42 ± 12.65 (p > 0.05).
conclusionThese findings suggest that EFT was effective in significantly reducing both pain and depression levels in cancer patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
40760334What 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.