Abstract
Background
Psychological interventions have been demonstrated to be effective in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, limited evidence on the effects of different psychological interventions were provided by previous studies or traditional meta-analysis.
Methods
This updated meta-analysis aimed to synthesize and analyze the effectiveness of psychological interventions on SLE patients.PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched. Inclusion criteria included 1) adults with SLE; 2) effects of psychological interventions were assessed; 3) outcomes of psychological impact and disease activity in the intervention group and control group were reported; 4) randomized controlled trials. We calculated standardized mean difference (SMD) of outcomes with the respective 95% confidence interval (CIs). Heterogeneity between enrolled studies was evaluated using the I2 statistics.
Results
Seven studies with 574 SLE patients were included in this meta-analysis. The SMDs for mean change in fatigue, physical function, mental health, pain, depression, and disease activity scores from the beginning to the end of the follow-up interval in the psychological intervention group and control group was − 0.48 [(95% CI: -0.64, -0.04), z=-2.24, p = 0.0251; I2 = 41%, p = 0.1669], 0.27 [(95% CI: 0.06, 0.49), z = 2.47, p = 0.0137; I2 = 1%, p = 0.3892], 0.17 [(95% CI: -0.27, 0.60), z = 0.75, p = 0.4519; I2 = 72%, p = 0.0274], 0.26 [(95% CI: -0.16, 0.68), z = 1.23, p = 0.2200; I2 = 0%, p = 0.3783], -0.67 [(95% CI: -1.60, 0.26), z=-1. 42, p = 0.1570; I2 = 89%, p < 0.0001], and − 0.02 [(95% CI: -0.24, 0.20), z=-0.17, p = 0.8652; I2 = 0%, p = 0.6718].
Conclusions
This meta-analysis indicates that psychological intervention effectively improves fatigue and physical function in patients with SLE.