Web-based individual Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for cancer-related fatigue — A pilot study
Fieke Z. Bruggeman-Everts, Marije L. van der Lee, Eltica de Jager Meezenbroek
Internet Interventions April 6, 2015 DOI: 10.1016/j.invent.2015.03.004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pilot study Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 257 |
| Population | Severely fatigued cancer survivors, mixed cancer types, mean age 50.2, 76% women |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (eMBCT) |
| Duration | 9-week intervention, follow-up at one month post-assessment |
| Measures | Fatigue severity subscale of the Checklist Individual Strength, HADS |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 64 |
| Key points | Fatigue severity and distress significantly decreased after eMBCT, with large and moderate effect sizes respectively. 35% showed clinically relevant improvement and 62% adhered to treatment. The authors suggest eMBCT may be effective but call for a randomized controlled trial. |
Abstract
Severe fatigue may persist for many years in cancer survivors and has a considerable impact on a patient's life. This condition is called cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy has shown to significantly reduce CRF in cancer survivors. Internet-delivered interventions can be valuable for fatigued patients who are not able to travel to a healthcare institute because of the lack of energy and/or physical limitations. Therefore, we have developed a web-based, therapist guided individual 9-week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (eMBCT) aimed at diminishing CRF. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of eMBCT in a clinical setting in reducing fatigue severity and distress in cancer survivors. This pilot study was based on data from severely fatigued cancer survivors who applied for eMBCT between 2009 and 2013. Our primary outcome measure was the change in self-reported web-assessed fatigue severity, measured with the Fatigue severity subscale of the Checklist Individual Strength before (baseline) and one month after (post-assessment) eMBCT. The secondary outcome was distress (HADS) and the proportion of participants that showed clinically relevant improvement on fatigue severity. Patients' satisfaction with using eMBCT and reasons for non-adherence were studied. Intention-to-treat analyses were performed using multiple imputations to deal with data loss at post-assessment. All patients had to be severely fatigued at baseline (≥ 35 on the fatigue severity subscale of the Checklist Individual Strength), were > 18 years old, had no history of psychosis or current Major Depressive Disorder, finished their last cancer treatment at least six months ago (mixed cancer types), and were not in the terminal phase of illness. Patients were recruited offline as well as online. Two-hundred fifty-seven patients (age range 22–79 (M = 50.2, SD = 10.7), 76% women, 44% breast cancer, most had had surgery, chemo- and/or radiotherapy) met our inclusion criteria. Paired samples t-tests showed that fatigue severity was significantly reduced post-assessment (t(18) = 13.27, p < .001, Cohen's d: 1.45 as well as distress (t(46) = 7.66, p < .001, Cohen's d: 0.71). Thirty-five percent (n = 89) was clinically relevant improved at post-assessment and 62% (n = 159) adhered to treatment. This study had a completion rate of 1.5 and a registration rate of 2.3. These findings suggest that individual eMBCT may be effective in reducing fatigue in cancer survivors. A randomized controlled study with a large sample and longer follow up is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of eMBCT for CRF.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 14
- Web-Based Mindfulness Interventions for People With Physical Health Conditions: Systematic Review Journal of Medical Internet Research August 31, 2017
- Mindfulness Based Therapy in Cancer Patients: Meta-Analysis Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Care August 27, 2021
- Online Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery Program for People Living with Cancer in Alberta: A Randomized Wait-List Controlled Trial Libraries and Cultural Resources 2015
- Effect of blended and unguided online delivery of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy versus care as usual on distress among cancer patients and survivors: protocol for the three-arm parallel randomized controlled buddy trial. BMC Psychology January 25, 2023
- Effects of mindfulness-based interventions on fatigue and psychological wellbeing in women with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised control trials. Psycho-Oncology November 2022
and 9 more in the library
Cites 7
- Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2003
- Randomized controlled pilot study of mindfulness-based stress reduction for persistently fatigued cancer survivors. Psycho-Oncology August 17, 2014
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces chronic cancer-related fatigue: a treatment study. Psycho-Oncology March 2012
- The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Therapy on Anxiety and Depression: A Meta-Analytic Review Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology April 1, 2010
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for individuals whose lives have been affected by cancer: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology February 1, 2010
and 2 more in the library