A Review of Psychoeducational Interventions to Improve Sexual Functioning, Quality of Life, and Psychological Outcomes in Gynecological Cancer Patients

Background: Psychoeducational interventions are recommended for use with clinical gynecological cancer patients to improve their patient care outcomes. However, the evidence of their effectiveness is far from conclusive.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the best available research evidence related to the effects of psychoeducational interventions on sexual functioning, quality of life, and psychological outcomes in gynecological cancer patients.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted to identify English and Chinese articles from the inception of the databases to April 2012 and included 13 English databases and 7 Chinese databases. Gray literature or unpublished studies were also searched.

Results: A total of 11 studies involving 975 gynecological cancer patients were included in the review. Meta-analysis results for 4 comparable studies indicated that psychoeducational interventions were effective in treating depressive symptoms among gynecological cancer patients (standardized mean difference = -0.80; 95% confidence interval, -1.05 to -0.54), whereas information provision significantly improved the mental aspect of quality of life (standardized mean difference = -0.41; 95% confidence interval, -0.74 to -0.08). With regard to sexual functioning, psychoeducational interventions appeared to have benefits in improving the sexual life of patients.

Conclusions: Findings confirm the effectiveness of psychoeducational interventions on depressive symptoms and mental aspect of the quality of life in gynecological cancer patients.

Implications For Practice: The authors discuss the implications of review findings for the effective design of psychoeducational interventions including components, provider, provision time frame, and duration for clinical practice, as well as psychoeducational intervention research.