Oral Presentation Cancer Survivorship 2019

A qualitative meta-review of psychosocial cancer survivorship research: Areas of density and paucity (#18)

Stephanie Konings 1 , Rebekah Laidsaar-Powell 1 , Nicole Rankin 2 , Bogda Koczwara 3 4 , Emma Kemp 4 , Carolyn Mazariego 2 5 , Phyllis Butow 1 6
  1. Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-making (CeMPED), The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Cancer Council NSW, Sydney, NSW
  3. Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide , South Australia, Australia
  4. Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  5. School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
  6. Psycho-Oncology Cooperative Research Group, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

Aims: The number of qualitative studies examining psychosocial aspects of cancer survivorship have significantly increased in recent years, with a large number of systematic reviews published. This meta-review (systematic review of systematic reviews) aimed to assess the evidence base, summarising existing qualitative findings and identifying gaps for further research.

Methods: Systematic reviews published from 1980-2018 were identified via database searches (Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO). Both qualitative and mixed methods reviews were included, however only results pertaining to the qualitative experiences of cancer survivors (post-treatment) were included. Two authors assessed eligibility and extracted data.  The quality of the included articles was assessed using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist for Systematic Reviews.

Results: 1001 titles were retrieved, and 64 reviews were included in the final review. 20 reviews included only qualitative studies and 44 reviews included quantitative and qualitative studies. Whilst many reviews included mixed cancer types (24), the majority of reviews included only one cancer type (breast (20), gynaecological (10), prostate (5), haematological (2) colorectal (1), bladder (1), and melanoma (1)). A high proportion of original qualitative studies were conducted in the USA, Canada, the UK, and Australia. Reviews focused on several specific survivorship areas including psychological experiences of survivors (QoL, fear of cancer recurrence, psychological needs, distress/anxiety/depression), follow-up healthcare, sexuality, return to work, (in)fertility, and cognitive impairment among survivors. A small number of reviews examined diverse experiences of survivors according to demographic differences such as ethnicity, age, and rurality.

Conclusions: This meta-review provides insight into areas of research density and paucity. Breast and gynaecological cancer survivors are strongly represented, with few or no reviews for other common cancers (e.g. lung, colorectal, melanoma). Insights from each of the specific survivorship topic areas (e.g. psychological experiences, follow-up healthcare, sexuality) will be discussed, as well as identification of topic areas lacking qualitative insights.