Effects of acceptance and commitment therapy on fatigue for patients with cancer and other chronic health conditions: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Objective Fatigue is significantly more prevalent in the chronically ill compared to healthy individuals. Fatigue is one of the most reported and debilitating symptoms in individuals with chronic health conditions. Despite this, there is limited evidence examining the efficacy of psychological interventions to reduce fatigue, with the majority having focused on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. As Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has shown to be efficacious in improving other outcomes for people with chronic health conditions, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the efficacy of ACT in reducing fatigue for this population.Methods A systematic search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, US National Library of Medicine Clinical Trial Register and reference lists of relevant papers was conducted to obtain relevant studies. Inclusion criteria specified the study needed to be a randomised controlled trial which implemented an ACT predominant intervention and measured fatigue in adults with a chronic health condition. Data was pooled using the inverse-variance random effects model, with restricted maximum likelihood estimation, providing the standardized mean difference between control and experimental groups post intervention.Results The current systematic review and meta-analysis included eight RCTs. Participants with a chronic condition (including cancer and fibromyalgia) who received ACT interventions, displayed reduced levels of fatigue, indicative of a small effect (SMD = -0.16, 95% CI [-0.30, -0.01], p = 0.03).Conclusion While the evidence is limited to cancer and fibromyalgia, ACT shows promise in reducing fatigue. Future research should examine ACT for fatigue in other chronic health condition populations to broaden the scope of these findings.
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The non-significant result of fatigue is consistent with Zhang et al. but in contradiction to Fang et al. and Maunick et al.
“the non-significant result of fatigue is consistent with Zhang et al. (Zhang et al., 2023) but in contradiction to Fang et al. (2023) and Maunick et al. (2023)”
From Acceptance and commitment therapy reduces psychological distress in patients with cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (2024) · cites this paper as Maunick et al., 2023
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- Authors
- Maunick, B., Skvarc, D., Olive, L., & Mikocka-Walus, A.
- Affiliations
- Deakin University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Maunick, Bernadette
- Venue
- Journal of Psychosomatic Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2023-08
- Volume
- 171
- Pages
- 111366
- ISSN
- 0022-3999 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4376648632
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 53
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 8
- FWCI
- 1.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Psychosomatic Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Therapy Practice and Research
- Keywords
- acceptance and commitment therapy, fatigue, cancer, fibromyalgia, chronic disease, psychological intervention, symptom relief
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Humans, Neoplasms, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
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