The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Fear of Cancer Recurrence in Colorectal and Breast Cancer Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

A randomized clinical trial tested mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) against a control condition in 38 patients with breast or colorectal cancer who reported fear of cancer recurrence. After the intervention, the MBSR group showed significantly lower scores on most components of the fear of cancer recurrence inventory, including triggers, severity, psychological distress, dysfunction, coping strategies, and reassurance, compared with the control group. No significant difference was found for the insight component. The authors conclude that MBSR is an efficacious intervention to reduce fear of cancer recurrence in these patients.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Background: Strong fear of cancer recurrence is frequently reported among the cancer survivors. Such influential and universal fear is one of the factors that cause considerable emotional distress, anxiety, and decreasing quality of life among such patients. Given the importance of the subject, it is necessary to select psychological interventions in which the efficiency and feasibility have been proved in different trials. The present study aims to determine the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction on fear of cancer recurrence in patients with colorectal and breast cancer. Methods: The current study is a randomized clinical trial with experiment and control groups. We selected 38 patients with breast and colorectal cancer who referred to Shahid Motahari Clinic and Amir Oncology Hospital in Shiraz (96-97), then randomly assigned them to intervention and control groups. They filled out questionnaires in the pre-test and post-test. The data were analyzed by multivariate statistical test with SPSS v. 23 software. Results: Findings show that the post-test mean scores in the fear of cancer inventory have decreased in the intervention group and there was a significant difference between experimental and control groups in the components of fear of cancer inventory as follows: triggers (F=55.289, P<0.0001), severity (F= 75.785, P<0.0001), psychological distress (F=24.078, P<0.0001), dysfunction (F=62/025, P<0.0001), coping strategies (F=15.592, P<0.0001), reassurance (F= 6.235, P<0.017), and except insight (F= 1.396, P<0.245). Conclusion: The results from this study showed that MBSR is an efficacious intervention to reduce fear of cancer recurrence in patients with breast and colorectal cancer.