Ling, C.C., Lui, L.Y., & So, W.K. (2012). Do educational interventions improve cancer patients' quality of life and reduce pain intensity? Quantitative systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 68(3), 511–520.
To complete a systematic review to evaluate the effect of patient education on the pain intensity, pain interference, and quality of life of patients with cancer
The search retrieved 68 references. Authors considered 23 references. Authors evaluated studies on the basis of methodological quality assessment; two independent reviewers assessed all studies by using the Jadad scoring system. In the event of a discrepancy, a third reviewer evaluated the study. Data were obtained by means of the PICO (participants, interventions, comparison, and outcomes) approach. The study employed six different instruments to measure quality of life across four studies; two instruments were used to evaluate pain (three studies used the Brief Pain Inventory).
Clinical applications: late effects and survivorship, palliative care
Pain scores decreased as a result of the educational interventions in each study, but effects of education on quality of life were not statistically significant.
A limited number of studies evaluating effects of education on cancer pain and quality of life are available. Based on available studies, education about pain has little effect on quality of life in the specified patient population.