Effect of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy on the Mental Health and Quality of Life in Patients with Breast Cancer

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy training improved mental health and quality of life in breast cancer patients who had undergone surgical resection. In a randomized trial, 84 patients were assigned to either an 8-week mindfulness-based cognitive therapy program plus routine nursing or routine nursing alone. After 8 weeks, the mindfulness group showed significantly reduced anxiety, depression, fear of cancer, and fatigue, along with improved mental health and quality of life compared to the control group. These benefits persisted at the 12-week follow-up. The findings suggest that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy can improve psychological and physiological well-being in non-metastatic breast cancer patients.

Study at a glance

Abstract

To study the effect of mindfulness based cognitive therapy on the mental health and quality of life of breast cancer patients. A total of 84 breast cancer patients who underwent the surgical resection in the department of breast surgery in our hospital from August 2017 to August 2018 were selected. The 84 patients were randomly divided into the mindfulness based cognitive therapy intervention group (n=42) and the control group (n=42). The patients in the mindfulness based cognitive therapy group received an 8 w mindfulness based cognitive therapy training, while the patients in the control group only received the routine nursing during this period. After the 8th w, the patients in the control group and mindfulness based cognitive therapy group received the same mindfulness based cognitive therapy training program, and the changes in mental health and quality of life of the patients in the two groups were evaluated after 8 and 12 w of intervention. Compared with the control group, the psychological perplexity [anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-A) and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-D)], fear of cancer and mental health in the mindfulness based cognitive therapy group were significantly improved in the 8th w, and the difference between the two groups was still significant at the 12th w (p<0.05). After the intervention, the results showed that the fatigue degree in the mindfulness based cognitive therapy group were significantly reduced and the quality of life was significantly improved (p<0.05). Mindfulness based cognitive therapy can improve the psychological, physiological and mental state of the patients with non-metastatic breast cancer, which is worth popularizing and applying in the clinic.