Mindfulness, cancer, and pain
A. Tacón
November 28, 2011 DOI: 10.4081/ams.2011.e15 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-post intervention study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 41 |
| Population | Women diagnosed with breast cancer and cancer-related pain |
| Interventions | Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) body scan sitting meditation hatha yoga |
| Duration | Eight-week intervention; 1.5 hours/week |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | An eight-week MBSR program was associated with significant reductions in pain catastrophizing, pain-related anxiety, and pain intensity ratings, and with significant positive changes in mental adjustment to cancer, among 41 women with cancer-related pain. The authors describe this as the first study of MBSR effects on psychological factors in patients with cancer pain and call for much more research. |
Abstract
Pain is the most distressing and incapacitating symptom experienced by cancer patients. While mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) interventions have been conducted with cancer patients, no study has explored psychological and pain- related factors in patients with cancer-related pain. The effects of an eight-week MBSR intervention were investigated on pre- post scores for pain catastrophizing, pain-related anxiety, pain intensity ratings, and mental adjustment to cancer in breast cancer patients with pa in. Forty-one women diagnosed withcancer-related pain participated in the study. The MBSR was conducted for 1.5 hours/week for eight-weeks; participants were trained in the body scan, sitting meditation, and hatha yoga. Results showed significant reduction in scores for pain catastrophizing, pain anxiety, and painratings; also significant positive changes occurred for mental adjustment to cancer. This study is the first to investigate MBSR effects for psychological factors in patients with cancer pain. Much more research is needed in this area.
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
Cites 3
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- A Randomized, Wait-List Controlled Clinical Trial: The Effect of a Mindfulness Meditation-Based Stress Reduction Program on Mood and Symptoms of Stress in Cancer Outpatients Psychosomatic Medicine September 1, 2000
- Impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on sleep, mood, stress and fatigue symptoms in cancer outpatients. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine 2005