The physical and psychological outcomes of art therapy in pediatric palliative care: A systematic review

The integration of art therapy in health care is a growing trend in the care of cancer patients. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the physical and mental benefits of art in children with cancer.

A systematic review of English articles using Google Scholar, MEDLINE via PubMed, Scopus, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and the Web of Science was conducted. Relevant keywords for cancer, child, art therapy and their synonyms were used accordingly. All searches were conducted to December 31, 2021.Relevant articles were included studies published in English and involving children aged 0–18 years. Studies evaluated the effects of art therapy in children with cancer.

Seventeen studies had inclusion criteria, of which 12 studies were performed by clinical trial and 5 studies were performed by quasi‑experimental method. Sixteen studies evaluated one type of art-therapy intervention, while one study used a combination of art-therapy approaches.The results showed that art‑based interventions in the physical dimension lead to more physical activity, stability in breathing, and heart rate, and these children reported less pain. In the dimensions of psychology had less anxiety, depression, and anger but at the same time had a better quality of life and more coping‑related behaviors.

It seems that the use of art therapy in pediatric palliative care with cancer can have good physical and psychological results for the child, but it is suggested to evaluate the effects of these interventions in children at the end of life.