Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces chronic cancer-related fatigue: a treatment study.
Marije L. van der Lee, Bert Garssen
Psycho-oncology March 2012 DOI: 10.1002/pon.1890 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 83 |
| Population | Cancer survivors with mixed diagnoses experiencing severe chronic fatigue |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based cognitive group therapy |
| Duration | 9-week intervention, 6-month follow-up |
| Measures | Checklist Individual Strength, Sickness Impact Profile, Health and Disease-Inventory |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Mindfulness-based cognitive group therapy significantly reduced fatigue severity and improved well-being in cancer survivors compared to a waiting list, with 30% clinically improved versus 4% in the control. Effects were maintained at 6-month follow-up, but no significant difference in functional impairment was found. |
Abstract
About one-third of cancer survivors suffer from severe chronic fatigue. Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive group therapy in reducing severe chronic fatigue in cancer survivors with mixed diagnoses. Participants (n = 100) were randomly selected from a cohort and allocated to an intervention and a waiting list condition. Analyses were based on 59 participants in the intervention condition and 24 in the waiting-list condition. Fatigue severity (Checklist Individual Strength), functional impairment (Sickness Impact Profile) and well being (Health and Disease-Inventory) were assessed before and after the 9-week intervention. The intervention group had a follow-up 6 months following the intervention. At post-treatment measurement the proportion of clinically improved participants was 30%, versus 4% in the waiting list condition (χ(2) (1) = 6.71; p = 0.007). The mean fatigue score at post-measurement was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the waiting list group corrected for pre-treatment level of fatigue. The mean well-being score at post-measurement was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the waiting list group corrected for pre-treatment level of well-being. The treatment effect was maintained at 6-month follow-up. No difference between the two conditions was found in functional impairment. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is an effective treatment for chronic cancer-related fatigue.