Journal of Nepal Medical Association · Published 2026-07-29 · DOI 10.31729/jnma.v64i300.9625
Pawan Sharma, Anima Parajuli, Bishesh Sharma Poudyal
Psycho-oncology deals with the psychological, emotional, and social issues faced by cancer patients and their families. The cancer burden in Nepal is increasing, and understanding of existing psycho-oncology services as well as research is needed. This scoping review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, NepJOL, Google Scholar, and manual sources was performed from database inception to November 2025. Studies conducted in Nepal that reported psychological or psychosocial outcomes among cancer patients or caregivers were included. Data were extracted on study characteristics, assessment tools, and key findings. Eighteen studies met inclusion criteria, published between 2010 and 2025. Most were hospital-based cross-sectional studies, with one qualitative and one case–control study. Anxiety, depression, and psychological distress were highly prevalent across cancer types. Commonly reported psychological problems included fatigue, sleep disturbance, pain, sexual difficulties, and fear of disease progression. Research on caregiver psychological problem was limited to a single study. The available literature demonstrates a substantial psychological morbidity among cancer patients in Nepal, but research remains methodologically limited and largely descriptive. There is a clear need for further research and integration of psycho-oncology services into routine cancer care.
Abstract from DOAJ. Public domain (CC0 1.0).
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Sharma, P., Parajuli, A., Poudyal, B. (2026). Psycho-oncology in Nepal: A Scoping Review. Journal of Nepal Medical Association. https://doi.org/10.31729/jnma.v64i300.9625