Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2005
Review Meta AnalysisSystematic review of hypnotherapy for treating symptoms in terminally ill adult cancer patients.
The aim of this review was to find the evidence for or against the use of hypnotherapy in the treatment of symptoms in terminally ill adult cancer patients. The title and abstract were evaluated following a search through Index Medicus/MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINHAHL, CancerLit, AHMED, Psychinfo, CISCOM, Cochrane and DARE. Search terms included hypnotherapy, cancer, terminal care and palliative care. ⋯ The 27 papers comprised a randomized controlled trial, an observational study, a retrospective questionnaire and 24 case studies. Hypnotherapy was used to treat a variety of symptoms, including pain, anxiety and depression. The poor quality of the studies and heterogeneity of the study population limited further evaluation; further research is required to understand the role of hypnotherapy in managing symptoms.