Contemplative self healing in women breast cancer survivors: a pilot study in underserved minority women shows improvement in quality of life and reduced stress

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Research Article

Alyson Moadel¹  Mary E Charlson²  Janey C Peterson²  Chayim Newman³  Erin Olivo⁴  Miles Neale⁴  Joseph Loizzo⁴  Emily Wolf⁴ 

[1] Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, 1300 Morris Park Avenue Belfer Building, Room 1006, 10461, Bronx, NY, USA;Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluative Sciences Research, Center for Integrative Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, 338 East 66th Street, 10065, New York, NY, USA;Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, 1165 Morris Park Ave, 10461, Bronx, NY, USA;Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science, Weill Cornell Center for Integrative Medicine, Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies, 300 Central Park West, 1D, 10024, New York, NY, USA;

关键词: Breast Cancer Survivor;    Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management;    Minority Breast Cancer Survivor;    Cognitive Behavioral Stress Management Intervention;    Contemplative Intervention;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6882-14-349

 received in 2014-04-10, accepted in 2014-08-13,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAmong underserved, largely minority women who were breast cancer survivors, this pilot project was designed to evaluate the quality of life outcomes of a 20 week Contemplative Self-Healing Program.MethodsWomen previously treated for stage I-III breast cancer were assessed before and after the 20 week program with the FACT-G, FACT-B, FACIT-Spirituality, ECOG, and the Impact of Events Scale. They participated in a 20-week intervention involving guided meditation and cognitive-affective-behavioral learning.ResultsWith an average age of 63, 62% of the participants were African-American or Latino. With an average of 5.4 years since the diagnosis of breast cancer, 72% had an ECOG performance status of 1. 57% were currently working.Their baseline FACT-G was 80.5 ± 15.1, and their baseline Impact of Events Scale was 26.3 ± 18.9. The within-patient improvement on the FACT-G was 4.6 ± 10.9 (p = .01); in parallel the FACT-B improved by 2.8 ± 12.8 points (p = .03). The Impact of Events Scale improved by 6.6 ± 15.5 points (p = .01). There was significant within-patient improvement on both the avoidance scale (3.8 ± 9.2) and on the intrusion scale (2.9 ± 7.9). Patients who attended more sessions and conducted more home practice had greater improvements in quality of life.ConclusionPersons receiving a 20-session contemplative self healing intervention showed improved quality of life, with a clinically and statistically significant increase in the FACT-G. In addition, this population showed a significant reduction in post-traumatic stress symptoms assessed by the Impact of Events Scale.Trial registrationClinical Trials Gov NCT00278837.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Charlson et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014