Exercise combined with mindfulness meditation training on perioperative cancer patients
Hailong Xu, Ning Wang, Shengxian Chen
Psycho-Oncologie January 9, 2026 DOI: 10.18282/po4637 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 100 |
| Population | Perioperative cancer patients |
| Intervention | Exercise combined with mindfulness meditation training |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Perioperative Cancer Mindfulness meditation Physical therapy Immune system Mental health |
| Key findings | Exercise combined with mindfulness meditation training improved quality of life, mental health, and immune function, and reduced complications in perioperative cancer patients compared to control. |
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the effects of exercise combined with mindfulness meditation training on the quality of life, mental health, immune function, and complications in perioperative cancer patients.
Methods: To explore the effect of exercise combined with mindfulness meditation on quality of life, anxiety, depression, immune function and complications in perioperative cancer patients, this study selected 100 perioperative cancer patients. The patients were randomly divided into an experimental group (50 patients) and a control group (50 patients). The experimental group was given exercise combined with mindfulness meditation training. Quality of life, anxiety, depression, immune function and complications of the patients in both groups were assessed before and after the intervention. Data were entered using SPSS 26.0 software. Measurement data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Independent sample t-tests were used for inter-group comparisons. Chi-square tests were used for categorical data. The experimental group was significantly better than the control group in quality of life (P < 0.001), mental health (anxiety: P < 0.001, depression: P < 0.001) and immune function (P < 0.001). The experimental group also had a lower incidence of complications than the control group (P = 0.038). The improvement in the control group was relatively small.
Conclusion: Exercise combined with mindfulness meditation training can effectively improve the quality of life, mental health, and immune function of perioperative cancer patients, while reducing the occurrence of complications, and has important clinical application value.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment | 2003 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2000 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 145 |
| Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults | 2008 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 139 |
| Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 40 |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2004 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |