A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of muscle relaxation training vs. conventional nursing on the depression, anxiety and life quality of patients with breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Muscle relaxation training is a method of gradually relaxing the whole body by consciously controlling the process of muscle contraction and relaxation, which is mostly used to improve the physical and mental health of breast cancer patients and improve the quality of life of patients. We conducted a systematic review to compare the effects of muscle relaxation training and conventional nursing on the psychological health and quality of life (QoL) of breast cancer patients. The results of this study provide a basis for nursing program selection of breast cancer patients. METHODS: The PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, China national knowledge infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang Data, (China Biology Medicine disc) CBM, and WWW.CQVIP.COM (VIP) databases were searched to retrieve articles on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs on the effects of muscle relaxation training on the mental health and QoL of breast cancer patients. The search period ran from the establishment of the databases to August 31st, 2021. Two researchers independently screened the literature, extracted the data, and The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions assessed the risk of bias in the included studies. Stata 15.0 software was then used for the meta-analysis. RESULTS: Funnel plots were analyzed by E Egger’s test and Begg’s test. The results of the test (P>0.05) showed that the possibility of publication bias was small. A total of 13 RCTs and quasi-RCTs, comprising 1,355 patients, were included in the meta-analysis. The results for the outcome measures were as follows: level of depression [weighted mean difference (WMD) =–9.31, 95% confidence interval (CI): –11.96 to –6.65, level of anxiety (WMD =–8.96, 95% CI: –10.06 to −7.86)], and QoL (WMD =13.13, 95% CI: 7.24, 19.02). The results showed that muscle relaxation training can significantly reduce depression and anxiety in breast cancer patients, improve their quality of life, and can be used as the first choice for breast cancer patients to improve negative emotions. DISCUSSION: Muscle relaxation training significantly reduced the depression and anxiety of breast cancer patients, improved their QoL, and brought about both psychological and QoL improvements.