Luctkar-Flude, M., & Groll, D. (2015). A systematic review of the safety and effect of neurofeedback on fatigue and cognition. Integrative Cancer Therapies, 14, 318–340. 

DOI Link

Purpose

STUDY PURPOSE: To explore the efficacy and safety of electroencephalograph (EEG) biofeedback, or neurofeedback, on fatigue and cognitive impairment
 
TYPE OF STUDY: Systematic review

Search Strategy

DATABASES USED: OVID MEDLINE (1946 to third week of November, 2013); EMBASE (1947 to the 44th week of 2013); PsycINFO (1967 to the first week of December, 2013); AMED (1985 to December 2013); CIHAHL (1978 to the first week of December, 2013); hand searches also were conducted of the major journals reporting on neurofeedback and reference lists of included studies
 
KEYWORDS: Neurofeedback, brain biofeedback, EEG biofeedback, fatigue, cognitive disorders, and cognition
 
INCLUSION CRITERIA: (1) Reported on adult cancer survivors, individuals with other chronic health conditions, or nonclinical populations seeking to decrease fatigue or enhance cognitive abilities; (2) reported results of randomized, controlled trials, nonrandomized, controlled trials, controlled before-and-after studies, cohort, case control, or descriptive studies that assessed effectiveness or safety of EEG biofeedback or neurofeedback therapy; and (3) written in English
 
EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Studies on children, editorials, reviews, expert opinion papers, and studies published as abstracts only

Literature Evaluated

TOTAL REFERENCES RETRIEVED: 197
 
EVALUATION METHOD AND COMMENTS ON LITERATURE USED: This systematic review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology, including JBI critical appraisal and data extraction tools. Only two studies were deemed to be of high quality.

Sample Characteristics

  • FINAL NUMBER STUDIES INCLUDED = 17 (10 experimental and seven descriptive)
  • SAMPLE RANGE ACROSS STUDIES: 6–64 patients (experimental), 5–100 patients (descriptive)
  • KEY SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS: Age range was 6–84 years; only one study reported on patients with cancer (n = 23)

Phase of Care and Clinical Applications

PHASE OF CARE: Late effects and survivorship

Results

Improvements were noted in fatigue in eight of 17 studies, and improvement was noted in cognition in 14 of the 17 studies reviewed. Neurofeedback interventions were well tolerated with only three studies reporting any side effects.

Conclusions

Insufficient evidence was presented to suggest that these complementary and alternative medicine therapies (neurofeedback) are useful in the management of cancer-related fatigue or cognition.

Limitations

  • Only one of the 17 studies included a population of cancer survivors (BCS, n = 23)
  • Heterogeneity of other samples; majority non-clinical samples
  • Majority of studies were low-quality

Nursing Implications

Additional research needs to be done before this type of therapy can be recommended.

Legacy ID

5298