Psychological intervention in oncological patients: a review (2000-2014)

Objective: The aim of this work has been to assess the use of the different psychological interventions related to the emotional, physical, functional state and quality of life of cancer patients in the different phases of the illness. Method: For this purpose, a bibliographic search between the years 2000 and 2014 in Medline and CancerLit databases was conducted. Results: A total of 122 experimental studies are described grouped according to the illness phases and the kind of psychological intervention employed. It is discussed about the methodological guaranties and the measures and the assessments of therapeutic efficiency to identify the interventions with the best prognostic. Conclusions: In general, the studies reviewed have achieved favorable results in relation to the improvement of the emotional, physical, functional state and the quality of life the patients. Nevertheless, their methodological limitations (little samples, difficulties of generalization, control group absence, etc.) and, sometimes, contradictory results suggest to be cautious when concluding about the effectiveness or not of the psychological intervention in cancer and the benefits of its application.