Published online May 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i5.116808
Revised: January 27, 2026
Accepted: February 27, 2026
Published online: May 27, 2026
Processing time: 141 Days and 5.3 Hours
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies, and surgery remains the only potentially curative treatment. However, postoperative complications, psychological distress, and treatment-related symptoms can severely impair quality of life (QoL) of patients. Although psychological interventions and health education have shown beneficial effects in other cancer populations, their effectiveness in postoperative patients with pancreatic cancer remains inconsistent and inadequately synthesized. We hypothesized that structured psychological and educational support would improve global health status, functional outcomes, and the symptom burden of postoperative patients with pancreatic cancer com
To determine how psychological intervention and health education affects the QoL of postoperative patients with pancreatic cancer.
We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, and MEDLINE from inception to October 2025. Two investigators independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed bias. Quality was appraised using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool (RoB 2.0), and the primary effect measure was the standardized mean difference (SMD) derived from a meta-analysis using RevMan 5.4.
Of the 1613 records initially identified, six studies involving 712 patients were included in the final analysis after applying exclusion criteria. The meta-analysis revealed that, compared with usual care, psychological interventions and health education significantly improved patients’ global health status [MD = 7.12, 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.91 to 9.32, P < 0.001], physical functioning (SMD = 0.61, 95%CI: 0.37 to 0.85, P < 0.001), role functioning (SMD = 0.64, 95%CI: 0.33 to 0.94, P < 0.001), emotional functioning (SMD = 1.03, 95%CI: 0.78 to 1.28, P < 0.001), dietary digestion (MD = -2.37, 95%CI: -3.12 to -1.63, P < 0.001), and nursing satisfaction (MD = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.50 to 0.88, P < 0.001).
Psychological interventions combined with health education can improve global health status, alleviate symptom burden, and enhance functional outcomes compared to standard care among postoperative patients with pancreatic cancer.
Core Tip: This systematic review and meta-analysis is the first to synthesize evidence on the impact of psychological intervention and health education on the quality of life among postoperative patients with pancreatic cancer. Despite a low certainty of evidence, the results indicated significant improvements in global health, physical and emotional functioning, and digestion. These findings highlight the potential of integrated supportive care in a population with a high symptom burden and underscore the need for more rigorous trials.