Effect of peer mentoring on physical activity in patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Abstract

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To systematically examine the effect of peer mentoring applied to patients with cancer on physical activity.

DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

METHODS: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted as a result of reviewing randomised controlled trials. No year limitation was set, and studies published in English were included in the study. Web of Science, Science Direct, PubMed, ProQuest, EBSCOhost/CINAHL Complete, Springer Link, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and Ovid databases were searched up to January 2022. The Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3 software was used to analyse the meta-analysis data. PRISMA was employed. The Cochrane Collaboration tool was evaluated by two independent researchers.

RESULTS: Six studies with a total of 1.551 participants were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that peer mentoring had positive medium effects on the physical activity process (95% Cl = 0.15 to 0.49, p < .001 and Hedge's g = 0.322). The results of the sensitivity analysis confirmed the reliability of the outcome measures.

CONCLUSIONS: Peer mentoring was found to have positive effects on improving the level of physical activity in patients with cancer. The use of peer mentoring can offer a holistic perspective by improving the quality and functional status of care.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Peer mentoring can be beneficial in terms of being a comfortable method and improving the physical activity levels of patients. In addition, health professionals' awareness of peer mentoring in terms of the provision of holistic care will increase.