THE ROLE OF THE PHYSIOTHERAPIST IN PALLIATIVE CARE IN ONCOLOGY PATIENTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Background Physiotherapy in palliative oncology patients is less discussed in literature and needs to be thoroughly investigated. Aim The aim of this study was to gather and analyze the available evidence on the effect of physiotherapy in oncology patients who require palliative care. Design This review was conducted by including studies published in the last 23 years, using PubMed and Web of Science as databases. Out of 933 studies, only ten articles met the inclusion criteria. These studies were: (1) randomized Controlled Trials published after the year 2000; (2) written in English, Dutch or translated into one of these two languages; (3) primarily oncological, palliative patients; and (4) examining interventions within the scope of the physiotherapist's role. Results The 10 included studies were all of medium and low quality due to risk of bias. This can be explained by the small sample sizes and consequently power of the studies. Overall, the effect on muscle strength and peripheral neuropathy were proven to be significant by multiple studies (n=2). There was also an impact on psychological outcome measures, quality of life and other physical outcome measures, but these showed differences in significance between several studies. Conclusions The results reveal many benefits of physiotherapy in this setting. They highlight the need to provide these services to ensure a better quality of life. However, larger studies of higher methodological quality are needed to understand these effects, and to support the development of specific guidelines for treating palliative oncology patients.

Keywords

• physical therapy; terminally ill; neoplasms; physical therapist; physical therapy modalities