Psychosocial Interventions to Improve Psychological Distress of Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of psychosocial interventions designed to improve the psychological distress of informal caregivers of cancer patients compared with usual care. Methods: Nine relevant databases were searched from inception to November 2020. We included randomized controlled trials focused on comparing psychosocial interventions delivered to informal cancer caregivers with usual care. Study quality was evaluated with the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool, and meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager statistical software. Results: Fifteen studies involving 1006 participants met the inclusion criteria, and several kinds of psychosocial interventions were applied to either cancer caregivers or patient-caregiver dyads. Compared to usual care, psychosocial interventions manifested positive, significant results in depression (SMD=-0.47, 95%CI -0.71 to -0.24, P<0.001) and anxiety (SMD=-0.50, 95%CI -0.91 to -0.09, P=0.02). And the psychosocial interventions have no significant effect on general psychological distress (SMD=-0.25, 95%CI -0.54 to 0.05, P=0.10) and subjective burden (SMD=-0.06, 95%CI -0.26 to 0.14, P=0.55) of cancer caregivers. Conclusion: Psychosocial interventions designed for cancer caregivers can effectively reduce depression and anxiety, while no significant results were found in general distress and subjective burden of cancer caregivers. More studies with stronger methodological designs and larger samples are still needed in the future.