BACKGROUND Mindfulness-based interventions, Tai Chi/Qigong, and Yoga (defined here as meditative cancer interventions [MCIs]) have demonstrated small to medium effects on psychosocial outcomes in female breast cancer patients. However, no summary exists of how effective these interventions are for men with cancer. PURPOSE A meta-analysis was performed to determine the effectiveness of MCIs on psychosocial outcomes (e.g., quality of life, depression, and posttraumatic growth) for men with cancer. METHODS A literature search yielded 17 randomized controlled trials (N = 666) meeting study inclusion criteria. The authors were contacted to request data for male participants in the study when not reported. RESULTS With the removal of one outlier, there was a small effect found in favor of MCIs across all psychosocial outcomes immediately postintervention (g = .23, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.02 to 0.44). Studies using a usual care control arm demonstrated a small effect in favor of MCIs (g = .26, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.42). However, there was insufficient evidence of a superior effect for MCIs when compared to an active control group, including attention control. Few studies examined both short-term and long-term outcomes. CONCLUSIONS There is evidence for MCIs improving psychosocial outcomes in male cancer survivors. However, this effect is not demonstrated when limited to studies that used active controls. The effect size found in this meta-analysis is smaller than those reported in MCI studies of mixed gender and female cancer patient populations. More rigorously designed randomized trials are needed that include active control groups, which control for attention, and long-term follow-up. There may be unique challenges for addressing the psychosocial needs of male cancer patients that future interventions should consider.

中文翻译：

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男性癌症患者的正念和冥想运动干预：一项荟萃分析。

背景技术基于正念的干预，太极/气功和瑜伽（此处定义为冥想性癌症干预[MCI]）已证明对女性乳腺癌患者的心理社会后果有中小影响。但是，尚无关于这些干预措施对癌症男性有效的总结。目的进行荟萃分析，以确定MCI对癌症男性心理社会结局（例如生活质量，抑郁和创伤后生长）的有效性。方法文献检索得出符合研究纳入标准的17项随机对照试验（N = 666）。未报告时，与作者联系以索取研究中男性参与者的数据。结果随着一个异常值的去除，干预后立即在所有社会心理结果中发现对MCI有利的小影响（g = 0.23，95％置信区间[CI] 0.02至0.44）。使用常规护理控制臂的研究表明，使用MCI的效果很小（g = 0.26，95％CI 0.10至0.42）。但是，没有足够的证据表明与包括注意控制在内的活动对照组相比，MCI具有更好的效果。很少有研究同时检查短期和长期结果。结论有证据表明MCI可改善男性癌症幸存者的社会心理结果。但是，当仅限于使用主动对照的研究时，这种效果并未得到证实。这项荟萃分析中发现的效应量小于在MCI研究中针对性别和女性癌症患者混合人群的研究结果。需要进行更严格设计的随机试验，包括活动对照组，以控制注意力和长期随访。应对未来干预措施应考虑的解决男性癌症患者心理需求的独特挑战。