The effect of reiki therapy on cancer pain management in palliative care patients : a systematic review

Abstract

Goal: This systematic review was conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the use of reiki therapy in cancer pain management and to draw attention to the availability of this application in palliative care units. Methods: The studies on cancer pain management, both in English and Turkish, whose full text versions were accessible, were systematically analyzed, the studies without full text were not included. The study was conducted by reviewing CINAHL, EBSCOhost, MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Ovid, ProQuest, Web of Science ULAKBİM National DataBases. Keywords such as "Cancer Pain", "Cancer Pain Management", "Reiki" and "Palliative Care" were used to access the studies. 19 research papers were accessed and 5 of them were found to be compatible with the inclusion criteria of our study. Cohrane was established as the guideline to determine levels of evidence. Findings: While, three were experimental studies, and the other one was meta-analysis. In our day, randomized controlled studies examining the effect of reiki therapy on pain in cancer patients who receive palliative care are limited. In particular, studies have shown that reiki is even more effective in reducing pain when used in addition to pharmacological treatment and conventional nursing care. Pain assessments are usually performed with visual scale and numeric scale, reiki sessions are performed in the range of 10-90 minutes and 2-6 sessions per week. Results: When we examine the effect of Reiki on physical and psychological recovery in cancer patients treated in palliative care, it is reported that reiki has a positive effect on reducing pain.