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Empathetic nursing with mindful cognitive therapy for fatigue, depression, and negative emotions in leukemia patients undergoing long-term chemotherapy.

Ying-Ying Lu, Xiao-Min Lu, Chun-Yan Shao, Chen-Chen Wang, Ting-Ting Xu, Bei-Lei Zhang

World Journal of Clinical Cases February 26, 2022 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i6.1826 (opens in new tab)

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed
Sample size 103
Population Patients with long-term leukemia undergoing chemotherapy
Intervention Empathetic nursing with mindfulness cognitive therapy
Duration 3 months of nursing care
Measures Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS), Herth Hope Index (HHI), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA), Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD), Chinese Strategies Used by People to Promote Health
Topics Depression
Keywords Cancer-induced fatigue Chemotherapy Empathetic nursing Hope level Leukemia Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy Negative emotions
Key findings Patients receiving empathetic nursing with mindfulness cognitive therapy showed lower cancer-related fatigue, anxiety, and depression scores and higher hope and self-management scores than those receiving routine nursing after three months. The authors conclude the approach benefits fatigue, negative emotions, hope level, and self-management in long-term leukemia chemotherapy patients.

Abstract

Leukemia is a broad term for blood cell cancer. Leukemia is divided into acute or chronic, depending on cell differentiation. Leukemia patients are prone to adverse reactions during chemotherapy, such as anxiety, depression, and even suicide, affecting prognosis. As a nursing model developed by three well-known cognitive psychologists, empathetic nursing with mindfulness cognitive therapy (ENMCT) can effectively reduce anxiety and depression and improve the quality of life in patients with chronic disease. To explore the effect of ENMCT on cancer-induced fatigue, hope level, and negative emotions in patients with long-term leukemia chemotherapy. A total of 103 patients with long-term leukemia chemotherapy diagnosed and treated in our hospital from July 2017 to October 2019 were enrolled and randomly assigned to observation and control groups using the random number table approach. Fifty-one patients in the control group received routine nursing, while 52 patients in the observation group received empathic nursing with mindfulness cognitive therapy. After three months of nursing care, cancer-induced fatigue was measured with the Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS), hope level with the Herth Hope Index (HHI), and negative emotion with the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA)/Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD). Self-management (Chinese Strategies Used by People to Promote Health) was also recorded. The observation group's total scores in behavior, cognition, emotion, feeling, and PFS were lower than the control group after the intervention (P < 0.05). Keeping close contact with others, the attitude of taking positive actions, the attitude toward reality and future, and the total HHI score were higher in the observation group than the control group (P < 0.05). The observation group's HAMA and HAMD scores were lower than the control group (P < 0.05). The observation group's positive attitude, self-decision, and self-relief scores were greater than the control group (P < 0.05). Empathetic nursing with cognitive mindfulness therapy is beneficial in improving cancer-related fatigue, negative emotions, expectation level, and self-management ability in patients with long-term leukemia chemotherapy.

Comparable studies

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Study Year Design Participants
A Randomized Trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate Antagonist in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression Subjects with DSM-IV major depression (treatment resistant) 2006 Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study n = 18
Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients 2000 Randomized controlled trial n = 145
Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial Cancer patients with life-threatening diagnoses and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety 2016 Randomized controlled trial n = 51
Rapid and sustained symptom reduction following psilocybin treatment for anxiety and depression in patients with life-threatening cancer: a randomized controlled trial Patients with cancer-related anxiety and depression 2016 Double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial n = 29
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients 2004 Randomized controlled trial n = 73

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