Complementary Medicine, Breast Cancer, and Pain | Chapter 13 | Emerging Research in Medical Sciences Vol. 3
Aims:
The purpose here was to investigate for the first
time effects following five-weeks of a complementary medicine intervention or
mindfulness-based intervention (MBSR) in cancer patients with chronic pain.
Specifically, psychological inflexibility in pain, pain self-efficacy, and
expressive suppression were investigated for the first time in breast cancer
patients with cancer-related pain.
Study Design: One group pre-post
intervention design.
Place and Duration of Study: Lubbock,
Tx medical center, spring 2010.
Methodology: Sample: The sample
consisted of 46 participants with 36 women in stage II (78%) and 10 (22%) in
stage III with a mean age of 55 years. The MBSR intervention was held in a
hospital counseling center for 1.5 hours/week for eight-weeks, with preliminary
data collected at five weeks (reported here), at the end of the full program
three weeks later, and three months post the 8-week program. Preliminary data
here were collected on standardized instruments before (pre) and after (post)
the five-week point of the eight-week MBSR program to evaluate intervention
effects on the following: Psychological inflexibility in pain, pain
self-efficacy, emotional regulation of suppressive expression, and pain
intensity.
Results: Psychological inflexibility
in pain scores prior to the program (M=60.05, SD=14.22) decreased significantly
by the end of five-weeks of the program (M=57.68, SD=13.46) (t=3.76, P = 0.01);
Pain self-efficacy prior to the program (M=20.61, SD=11.47) increased
significantly by the end of the five-week period of the mindfulness
intervention (M=22.47, SD=10.63) (t=3.11, P < 0.05); Emotional regulation
strategy of suppression before the program (M=22.77, SD=7.75) dropped
significantly by the end of the five-week mark (M=19.63, SD=8.43) (t=3.68, P =
0.01); lastly, pain intensity prior to the beginning of the intervention
(M=33.67, SD=8.48) did not change significantly by the end of the five-week
mark (M=32.86, SD=8.20) (P > .05).
Conclusion: These findings after
five weeks of the intervention should be interpreted cautiously, for
replication and future research need to be conducted at this time period. The
results, however, provide data in the neglected area of cancer patients with
cancer related pain and the possibility of effective yet shortened mindfulness
interventions.
Author(s) Details
A. M. Tacon
Texas Tech University,
Lubbock, TX, USA.
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