A systematic review and Meta-analysis of qualitative research on dyadic coping cancer experience in breast cancer patients and their spouse

Objective Tosystematically review the dyadic coping cancer experience in breast cancer patients and their spouses so as to provide an evidence-based reference for making intervention for couple to cope with breast cancer. Methods Qualitative researches were retrieved in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, CBM, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) , VIP and WanFang data from building database to March 2019. Those researches were also screened. The quality evaluation was carried out with the Australia Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tool for qualitative studies. Meta-analysis was used to integrate the results of included researches. Results A total of 18 researches were included and 59 results were extracted. Those results were induced into 11 classifications and were synthesized into 3 integrated results including that couple coped with breast cancer by internal cohesion, external support and couple faced challenges and difficulties when coping with breast cancer. Conclusions Diagnosisof breast cancer is a major family event. Patients and their spouses cope with this emergency as a whole. Medical workers should pay attention to the influence of spouses in the process and carry out intervention as well as guide centered on couple to make the cope with cancer well. Key words: Breast neoplasms; Dyadic coping; Spousal support; Qualitative research; Systematic review; Meta-analysis