How best to capture the impact of complementary therapies in palliative care: A systematic review to identify and assess the appropriateness and validity of multi-domain tools.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Complementary therapies are widely used in palliative care settings. Qualitative research found that people with advanced disease report a range of physical and psychological benefits from complementary therapies, however evidence of their effectiveness from clinical trials is inconclusive. This may be because trials are limited by use of inappropriate outcome measures.

Aims

To identify tools which capture the impact of massage, reflexology and aromatherapy in people with advanced disease. We (1) identified multi-domain tools used to evaluate these therapies in populations with any chronic health condition and (2) assessed whether tools were valid and psychometrically robust in populations with advanced disease.

Design

A two-stage systematic review was cond

SUBMITTER: Mitchinson L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9606018 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature