Effectiveness of integrated nursing interventions for fatigue in patients with advanced cancer: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

Abstract Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of integrated nursing interventions for fatigue in patients with advanced cancer. Methods Medline, Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched systematically till June 2017. A systematic review was conducted to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting on the effect of nurse-driven interventions to improve fatigue in patients with advanced cancer. Quality assessment was conducted using the Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias tool. Results Six RCTs involving 736 adult participants were included. The fatigue intensity was improved significantly by nursing interventions. The analyzed results revealed significant improvements in the intervention group: less than 3 months (standard mean difference [SMD] = −0.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] [−0.48, −0.19], P < 0.01) and more than or equal to 3 months (SMD = −0.40, 95% CI [−0.57, −0.24], P < 0.01). Four studies with a moderate risk of bias were judged, and the remaining studies were at high risk of bias. Conclusions The results indicate that integrated nursing interventions may relieve fatigue in patients with advanced cancer. However, due to the high risk of bias in most of the included studies and the diversity of interventions, the results and implementation process should be carefully monitored.