Meta-analysis on the Impact of Positive Psychological Resources on Quality of Life in Cancer Patients

Abstract Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to assess the evidence of the association between positive psychological resources and quality of life among cancer patients. Methods: Electronic search was performed to retrieve articles from PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI and CBM (from inception to November 10, 2020). Summary correlation coefficient (r) values were extracted from each study, and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated by random-effect model. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to investigate potential heterogeneity.Results: Forty-three articles were included in the present study. The pooled r for resilience was 0.52 (95%CI: 0.43, 0.62), hope 0.50 (95%CI: 0.44, 0.56), self-efficacy 0.54 (95%CI: 0.41, 0.63), self-esteem 0.45 (95%CI: 0.26, 0.64) and optimism 0.32 (95%CI: 0.17, 0.46). For subgroup analysis, the effects of hope and resilience varied with patients’ age.Conclusion: Our study indicated that cancer patients with high level of positive psychological resources tend to live a better quality of life. Therefore, interventions programs based on difference in age for cancer patients could be developed by increasing positive psychological resources in the future research.