APPLIED INTERVENTIONS TO PROMOTE COPING STRATEGIES FOR DEPRESSION AMONG WOMEN WITH CANCER

Abstract

Depression has been observed in patients with chronic-degenerative diseases, including cancer. Using different coping strategies can be extremely important under these pathological conditions, considering the presence of stress and unwanted feelings. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify types of studies aimed at promoting coping strategies for depression among women with cancer and interventions used to promote these strategies. Three different electronic databases were reviewed, using the key words depression, coping and cancer to seek publications in English, Portuguese and Spanish, which resulted in 376 articles. The search was limited to female gender and the study types: clinical trial, meta-analysis, randomized control trial and review. After excluding studies whose full text was not available and repetitions in different databases, 22 articles were selected, originated in different countries (63% from North America) and published in journals from different knowledge areas; experimental (63%), recent (1996 till 2006); adopting individual (59.9%) or group strategies, among which emotional support and cognitive therapy were the most frequent. The identified interventions that promote coping strategies can be effective, significantly decrease depression and increase coping and quality of life. It is recommended that nurses use these strategies to reduce depression during the cancer treatment process.