Effectiveness of complementary therapies for the management of symptom clusters in palliative care in pediatric oncology: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effectiveness of complementary therapies in the management of symptom clusters in children and adolescents with cancer undergoing palliative care.

METHOD

Systematic review guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses, resorting to the databases MEDLINE, Web of Science, Central Cochrane, and PsycINFO. The identification, selection, inclusion, extraction, and methodological assessment were conducted by two independent reviewers.

RESULTS

Five quasi-experiments met the eligibility criteria. The heterogeneous characteristics of the studies made meta-analysis impossible. Two studies used therapeutic massage, one used Reiki, one used boswellic acid, and one used Cannabis sativa; three of them (therapeutic massage and Reiki) presented statistically significant results for the management of the cluster pain-anxiety-worry-dyspnea. Most studies presented a moderate risk of bias as per ROBINS-I tool.

CONCLUSION

Therapeutic massage and Reiki may be effective for the symptom clusters management, especially the pain-anxiety-worry-dyspnea cluster in children and adolescents undergoing palliative care.