Do Psychosocial Interventions Reduce Pain in Cancer Patients?

Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches must both be used to optimize pain control in cancer patients. However, nonpharmacologic interventions are poorly understood and underutilized. To determine the effect of psychosocial interventions on cancer-related pain, investigators conducted a meta-analysis of 37 randomized trials involving 4199 adult cancer patients or survivors, most of whom were women (66%), white (72%), and receiving outpatient care (71%).

All studies assessed pain in psychosocial intervention groups versus usual-care control groups (in 64% of studies) or no-treatment control groups; the mean number of participants in the intervention and control groups was 64 and 55, respectively. Interventions included cognitive-behavio…