Abstract
Managing psychological distress is an objective of palliative care. No meta-analysis has evaluated whether palliative care reduces psychological distress. Examine the effects of palliative care on depression, anxiety, and general psychological distress for adults with life-limiting illnesses and their caregivers. We searched PubMed, PsycInfo, Embase, and CINAHL for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of palliative care interventions. RCTs were included if they enrolled adults with life-limiting illnesses or their caregivers, reported data on psychological distress at 3 months after study intake, and if authors had described the intervention as "palliative care." We identified 38 RCTs meeting our inclusion criteria. Many (14/38) included studies excluded participants with common mental health conditions. There were no statistically significant improvements in patient or caregiver anxiety (patient SMD: -0.008, P=0.96; caregiver SMD: -0.21, P=0.79), depression (patient SMD: -0.13, P=0.25; caregiver SMD -0.27, P=0.08), or psychological distress (patient SMD: 0.26, P=0.59; caregiver SMD: 0.04, P=0.78). Psychological distress is not likely to be reduced in the context of a typical palliative care intervention. The systemic exclusion of patients with common mental health conditions in more than 1/3 of the studies raises ethical questions about the goals of palliative care RCTS and could perpetuate inequalities.
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