Effect of cognitive behavior therapy integrated with mindfulness on perceived pain and pain self-efficacy in patients with breast cancer

  In recent years, prevention of cancer and cancer complications has been noticed as this is recognized as of the mortality factors worldwide.[1] Nearly, a quarter of the cases of breast cancer in Iran fell within the age group of <40 years, and they have been involved with cancer about a decade earlier than females in the advanced countries.[2] Breast and prostate cancers are predicted to remain at the top of the cancer list by 2030. The annual mortality rate is about 17.9 among the percentage of breast Context: Cancer pain in a complicated situation for patients with breast cancer. Researchers suggested to use complementary and alternative method in order to reduction pain and side effects in these patients. This study was aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness integrated with cognitive behavioral therapy (MiCBT) on perceived pain and pain self-efficacy in patients with breast cancer.
Settings and Design: In this clinical trial study, a semi-experimental method was used. Patients with breast cancer were recurred from cancer clinic of a hospital of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Twenty-four patients with breast cancer selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned with permutation blocks in two groups of intervention (n = 12) and control (n = 12). The groups were assessed by demographic questionnaire, Perceived Pain Scale, and Pain Self-efficacy Scale before, immediate, and 1 month after the intervention. Participants in the interventional group received MiCBT for 8 weeks. Statistical Analysis Used: Data were analyzed using descriptive methods and multivariate analysis of covariance. The results showed that the interventional group had a significant decrease in perceived pain (P > 0.05). The pain self-efficacy of patients significantly increased in comparison to the control group in posttest and follow-up stage (P < 0.05). According to the results, it can be concluded that using integrated therapy with mindfulness has been effective in reducing pain and enhancing pain self-efficacy in breast cancer patients. Therefore, it can be an adequate complementary therapy for patients with breast cancer.