Diurnal Salivary Cortisol following Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) in Women with Breast Cancer: A pilot Study
Mohammad Taghi Badeleh, Robabeh Noori, Alireza Moradi
Medical Laboratory Journal June 1, 2018 DOI: 10.29252/mlj.12.5.16 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | One-group pretest-posttest study Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 12 |
| Population | Women with early-stage breast cancer |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) |
| Duration | 8-week intervention with follow-up |
| Measures | Cortisol Enzyme Immunoassay Kit |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Morning and afternoon salivary cortisol levels were significantly reduced after eight weeks of MBCT and at follow-up compared with pretest, but night cortisol did not show a significant reduction. Post-treatment cortisol was not significantly correlated with age, education, or socio-economic status. |
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Cancer and its conventional treatments may bring about some psychological and health-related symptoms leading to unstable cortisol level.Since evidence has shown that mindfulness based approaches can be helpful to reduce cortisol level, we aimed at investigating the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on decreasing salivary cortisol level in the women with breast cancer.Methods: in this one-group pretest posttest study, the women with early stage breast cancer were assessed to select eligible ones (N = 15).They were first trained for collecting salivary cortisol sample (before, after and follow-up) and then were asked to participate in MBCT, an eight-week session approach.Participants provided salivary samples in the morning (7: 30-8:30), afternoon (1-3) and night (9-11).To measure cortisol, Cortisol Enzyme Immunoassay Kit was used.Analysis was performed on the data of 12 participants remained, using repeated measurement.Results: the results of repeated measure ANOVA revealed that cortisol level of posttest (after 8-weeks of MBCT and follow-up period) in comparison with pretest was significantly reduced for morning and afternoon cortisol while it was not true for night cortisol.The post-treatment cortisol was not significantly correlated with age groups, education levels and socio-economic status using repeated measure ANCOVA. Conclusion:Given that the women with breast cancer are at the high risk of psychological distresses and unstable cortisol level, we recommend mindfulness-based approaches esp.MBCT to health providers specifically those working with breast cancer patients.