McCracken, K., McPherson-Isbell, G., Rajcevich Schwer, A., & Tran, S. T. (2026, April 30-May 2). Effectiveness of Psychological Interventions for Pain Management in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease: A Meta-Analysis [Poster presentation]. Society of Pediatric Psychology Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV, United States. 

Effectiveness of Psychological Interventions for Pain Management in Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease: A Meta-Analysis

Introduction: While psychological interventions have demonstrated effectiveness for pain management, evidence specific to sickle cell disease (SCD) is limited. A 2015 Cochrane systematic review examined psychological interventions in adult (n=1), pediatric (n=5), and mixed (n=1) samples, but did not have sufficient data for meta-analysis (Anie & Green, 2015). Given the high burden of pain in SCD, and limited pediatric SCD data, interventions targeting pain and psychosocial outcomes warrant updated systematic evaluation.

Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. APA PsycINFO, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and EBSCO databases were searched. Screening, full-text review, and data extraction were conducted by three independent reviewers using Covidence software. Meta-analysis was performed in R using a random-effects model. We included randomized control trials (RCT) and nonrandomized studies of psychological interventions for individuals with SCD that reported pain outcomes. Patient characteristics, intervention details, pain outcomes, mental health, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) outcomes were recorded.

Results: Search yielded 766 studies, 738 were screened, and eight studies with 425 pediatric patients were included for meta-analysis. Psychological interventions were associated with significant improvements in pain intensity ( g = -0.63, 95% CI [-0.80, -0.46]; medium to large effect), pain coping (g = 0.51, 95% CI [ 0.30, 0.71]; medium effect), and HRQoL (g = 0.77, 95% CI [ 0.02, 1.52], p = 0.04). Effects on anxiety were nonsignificant, and depression outcomes could not be pooled due to limited data.

Conclusions: Psychological interventions improve pain intensity, pain coping, and HRQoL in pediatric SCD populations. Meaningful effects on mental health may emerge with a larger evidence base. The small number of studies and frequent absence of mental health or HRQoL outcome reporting reflect the broader limitation of research in SCD. Findings highlight the need for additional high quality pediatric studies, including emotional and HRQoL outcomes to clarify the broader impact of these interventions.

<— Take me back to Conference Presentations