SynthesisFrontiers in psychiatry2026
Effects of different art therapies on the psychological well-being and quality of life in cancer survivors: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Objective: Art therapy has gained increasing attention as an adjunctive intervention for cancer patients. This study sought to conduct the first network meta-analysis (NMA) to evaluate the effects of various art therapies on the psychological well-being and quality of life in cancer survivors, rank various interventions by efficacy, and provide evidence-based guidance for clinical practice. Methods: Web of Science, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library, were systematically searched for studies published up to September 3, 2025. Eligible studies were selected according to predefined criteria, and data were independently extracted by two researchers. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I² statistic, and fixed- or random-effects models were applied accordingly. A Bayesian NMA was conducted to compare interventions and rank their efficacy using the surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA). Publication bias was assessed using comparison-adjusted funnel plots and Egger's test. Network meta-regression was performed for outcomes with high heterogeneity. Analyses were conducted using R Studio v4.5.2 and STATA v15.0. Results: Twenty-eight studies involving 2,542 cancer survivors were included. The NMA demonstrated that mandala painting therapy exhibited statistically significant efficacy in alleviating depression and enhancing quality of life. Regarding fatigue reduction, music therapy was superior to routine care (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -5.83, 95% credible interval [CrI]: -6.65, -5.02) and had the highest SUCRA ranking (96.4%). In terms of anxiety and pain relief, although music therapy had high SUCRA rankings (67.4% and 69.0%, respectively), pairwise comparisons did not show statistically significant differences. Conclusion: Mandala art therapy and music therapy may improve psychological well-being and quality of life among cancer survivors. However, because of the absence of closed loops in the evidence network, substantial clinical heterogeneity, and potential publication bias, SUCRA-based rankings should be interpreted cautiously. Further high-quality, multi-arm, standardized randomized controlled trials with lower risk of bias are needed to confirm these findings. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, identifier CRD420251149102.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.