ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Cancers: Gastric and Esophageal Cancers
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Postoperative Intervention Effects in Elderly Patients with Gastrointestinal Cancer Based on the Protection Motivation Theory
Provisionally accepted
- 1The People’s Hospital of Suzhou New District, Suzhou, China
- 2The People’s Hospital of SND, Suzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Objective: This study aims to evaluate the effect of postoperative interventions based on the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) on postoperative recovery in elderly gastrointestinal cancer patients, providing scientific evidence to support clinical practice and improving postoperative recovery quality and survival rates in elderly patients. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted, with relevant studies retrieved from multiple Chinese and English databases. The studies selected met the inclusion criteria, involving elderly gastrointestinal cancer patients aged 60 years or older, and interventions guided by PMT, including health education, behavior modification, or psychological interventions. The primary outcomes assessed were postoperative complication rates, psychological stress scores, and quality of life scores.Results: A total of 8 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included, with a total of 319 participants. Meta-analysis results indicated that the PMT intervention group had a significantly lower postoperative complication rate compared to the conventional health education group (MD=1.81, 95% CI:1.30–2.53, P=0.0005). The PMT intervention group also showed significantly lower postoperative psychological stress scores than the conventional group (MD = -15.64, 95% CI: -17.34 to -13.95, P<0.00001). Moreover, the PMT intervention group exhibited significantly better postoperative quality of life scores compared to the conventional care group (MD=-8.99, 95% CI:-9.60 to-8.38, P<0.00001). Conclusion: Postoperative interventions based on the Protection Motivation Theory can significantly improve postoperative recovery in elderly gastrointestinal cancer patients by enhancing recovery outcomes, reducing complication rates, improving psychological stress levels, and enhancing quality of life, demonstrating strong clinical application value.
Keywords: Protection Motivation Theory, postoperative intervention, elderly gastrointestinal cancer, Quality of Life, psychological stress
Received: 29 Apr 2025; Accepted: 29 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wei, Zhang, Wei, Zheng, Chai and Ding. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ye Ding, yedingdy539d@163.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.