SynthesisSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2025
The effectiveness of play therapy on depression and anxiety in hospitalized children with cancer: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThe presence of cancer and its treatment will induce anxiety and various effects, not only on a physical level but also on a psychological level. Play therapy can be used by children to articulate their emotions and foster proficient communication with healthcare professionals and caregivers. Play therapy emerges as a highly effective method for the management of illness in children diagnosed with cancer. MATERIAL AND
methodsA thorough search was conducted across multiple databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library. Our review included only interventional studies published from inception to 1 March 2024 that investigated the impact of play therapy on depression and anxiety in hospitalized children with cancer. For each study, information was gathered regarding the study's objective, participant characteristics, conditions, intervention details, comparisons made, study duration, and outcome measures.
resultsFollowing the retrieval of 2158 records, 12 studies were found to meet the eligibility criteria and were thus selected to include in the synthesis. Play therapy has been explored in several studies using interventions like cognitive-behavioral-based play therapy, family-based play therapy, group-based play therapy, virtual reality-based play therapy, and play therapy combined with other therapeutic approaches. Specifically, six studies investigated the effects of play therapy on anxiety, two studies on depression, and four studies on anxiety and depression.
conclusionPlay therapy is highly recommended due to its simplicity, minimal requirement of tools and materials, ease of implementation, affordability, and suitability for hospitalized preschool and school-age children with cancer.
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