Foot Reflexology and Pain Intensity Among Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Systematic Literature Review

Managing pain for cancer patients is a critical issue that requires investigations of complementary interventions to achieve comprehensive pain management. This study investigates whether foot reflexology, as a complementary intervention, has an effect on pain intensity management amongst patients with advanced cancer. A systematic literature review focusing on articles published during the period 2019 to 2024, include adult patients with advanced cancer, and implemented foot reflexology for cancer-related pain management was undertaken using different databases. The studies were screened, and eleven studies, including (2396 patients), were eligible for this review published in PubMed, Google Scholar, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library databases. Critical appraisal of the studies was conducted using JBI Critical Appraisal Checklist and the risk assessment was undertaken based on RoB 2, ROBIS, and adapted ROBINS-I tools. Feasibility studies showed that patients generally accept foot reflexology to help with cancer-related pain. Also, foot reflexology is reported to be effective and has significant effects on reducing cancer-related pain for patients with cancer. The results also indicated that the selection of pain assessment tools should consider the specific clinical context and assessment objectives. In addition, there are some discrepancies in the foot reflexology procedures followed by different researchers; nonetheless, the effectiveness of foot reflexology was demonstrated in all the studies. Foot reflexology is appropriate and can be incorporated to complement cancer patients’ pain management plans. Existing evidence is limited by study designs and implementation procedures. Further research should address these limitations through specific implementation procedures, incorporating diverse populations.