A review ranks approaches to psychological distress in people with cancer
Naikan Morita therapy led the rankings, but the abstract does not quantify how much distress changed compared with usual care or other approaches.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The authors concluded that non-drug approaches generally reduced psychological distress in people with malignant tumors. Naikan Morita therapy ranked highest, followed by acceptance and commitment therapy, music therapy and logotherapy. The abstract reports an ordering of approaches, but leaves the size and uncertainty of the differences between treatments unspecified.
The abstract omits treatment effect estimates, confidence intervals and follow-up durations. It therefore leaves the size, precision and persistence of any distress reduction unclear.
What the review compared
The review asked which non-drug approaches were most effective for psychological distress in people with cancer. Its comparisons included psychological therapies, nursing approaches, an app and exercise, with usual care also appearing in the rankings.
How the authors qualify the ranking
The authors singled out the highest-ranked therapies when describing overall benefits. They also explicitly called for better-quality randomized trials to support more reliable conclusions, so their own conclusion includes a need for further evidence.
The original publication
Effects of Non-Pharmacological Interventions on Psychological Distress in Patients With Malignant Tumors: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.
Zhang W, Ning X, Chen H et al.
Worldviews Evid Based Nurs · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41157806
- Record checked
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