The effectiveness of compassion-based interventions among cancer patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Objectives: This study examined the effects of compassion-based intervention on mental health in cancer patients by using systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods: Eleven bibliographic databases were searched from their earliest data available date up to March 1, 2022. The databases were PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, WOS, Cochrane, Embase, Scopus, ProQuest Dissertations, Airiti Library, and the National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. Results: Ten studies from 2015 to 2021 were included with a total of 771 cancer patients. Most were targeted at women with breast cancer. Brief compassion-based interventions of approximately 30 minutes were conducted by audio file, paper, and web-based self-guided writing prompts. Most were conducted after the completion of active treatment. Anxiety was the most measured outcome. Constructive compassion-based interventions with 4- to 12-week sessions were conducted by a trained facilitator. Most were conducted for patients who had undergone treatment, and depression was the most measured outcome. The meta-analysis indicated that compassion-based interventions had a significant effect of reducing depression and increasing self-compassion. Moderation analysis indicated that constructive intervention showed more benefits of increased self-compassion than brief intervention. Both face-to-face and non-face-to-face web-delivered formats had benefits for increasing self-compassion compared with the control condition. Significance of results: Compassion-based interventions might provide an effective strategy for improving self-compassion and depression among patients with breast cancer. Suggestions for further research and health-care providers follow.
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There are existing systematic and metareviews on web-based interventions for cancer care/aftercare and on fear of cancer recurrence interventions more generally.
“There are a number of existing systematic and metareviews on web-based interventions for cancer care/aftercare [9–17] and on fear of cancer recurrence interventions more generally [18–21].”
From Web-based interventions for fear of cancer recurrence: A scoping review with a focus on suggestions for the development and evaluation of future interventions (2024) · cites this paper as [16]
The Design section identifies this paper as a systematic review and meta-analysis, and ‘The effectiveness of mindfulness and cancer-related outcomes’ section reports fear-of-recurrence outcomes from two included studies. But the review covers compassion-based interventions for cancer patients, not fear-of-cancer-recurrence interventions generally. The web-based-intervention clause has a separate citation range and is not attributed to this source. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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Tönis, K. J. M., Kraiss, J. T., Drossaert, C. H. C., Karreman, J., Oostinga, M. S. D., Kloos, N., Austin, J., & Bohlmeijer, E. T. (2024) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-024-00793-0 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Fan, Y.-C., Hsiao, F.-H., & Hsieh, C.-C.
- Affiliations
- National Taiwan University (TW)
- Corresponding author
- Hsieh, Chia-Chen
- Venue
- Palliative and Supportive Care
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2022-11-18
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 534-546
- ISSN
- 1478-9515 (ISSN-L)
- 1478-9523
- OpenAlex
- W4309360780
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 0.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Palliative & Supportive Care (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Ministry of Science and Technology (108-2926-I-002-002-MY4)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- compassion-based interventions, cancer patients, breast cancer, self-compassion, depression, anxiety, mental health
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Breast Neoplasms, Empathy, Female, Humans, Taiwan
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