Effects of Cognitive Training and Social Support on Cancer-Related Fatigue and Quality of Life in Colorectal Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND

Few studies have evaluated the effects of cognitive training and social support on cancer-related fatigue and quality of life. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to examine the efficacy of cognitive training and social support in colorectal cancer patients and survivors.

METHODS

The PubMed, Ovid, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases were searched from database establishment until August 2021 to identify suitable studies according to relevant key words, taking cancer-related fatigue and quality of life as the outcomes. The Jadad scale was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the studies. Stata 15.1 software was used for statistical analyses, and sensitivity analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Eleven studies (6 published in English and 5 published in Chinese) involving 980 patients and survivors were included in the meta-analysis. All studies had Jadad scores ≥3. Statistically significant effects of cognitive training and social support were detected for cancer-related fatigue within 14 weeks (SMD = -1.13,  < .001) and after 14 weeks (SMD = -0.56,  < .001), overall quality of life within 14 weeks (SMD = 0.73,  < .001) and after 14 weeks (SMD = 0.54,  = .003). However, no statistically significant effects of the combination intervention were detected on long-term QOL (SMD = 0.50,  = .435).

CONCLUSIONS

Distinct cognitive interventions and a combination of cognitive and social support interventions can help to alleviate long-term and short-term CRF and short-term QOL. Further studies are needed to examine the mechanisms of cognitive training and social support for cancer-related fatigue and overall quality of life in patients and survivors with colorectal cancer.