Noninvasive interventions for improving well-being and quality of life in patients with lung cancer.
The review included 15 trials of randomized and quasi-randomized clinical trials assessing the effects of noninvasive interventions in improving well-being and quality of life in patients diagnosed with lung cancer. The participants (n = 1,587) were patients of either gender and any age diagnosed with lung cancer at any stage of their illness. Types of interventions were defined as noninvasive intervention performed for the care of patients with lung cancer. Interventions were defined as any physical treatment that did not require catheterization, skin puncture, intubation, incision, drainage, endoscopy, or pharmacologic intervention. The care performed for patients with lung cancer was defined as any treatment or action, based on clinical judgment and knowledge, that healthcare professionals perform to enhance patient well-being or quality of life. The following types of interventions were included. • Well-being was defined as a subjective or objective perception of improvement in physical health, or of symptoms related to cancer, to metastases, or to side effects of treatment of the illness; and/or a subjective or objective perception of improvement of physical functioning. • Quality of life was defined as an individual’s perception of position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which he or she lives and in relation to goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. The main limitations of the studies included were the variability of the interventions assessed and the approaches to measuring the considered outcomes, and the lack of data reported in the trials regarding allocation of patients to treatment groups and blinding.