Effects of progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery and deep diaphragmatic breathing on quality of life in elderly with breast or prostate cancer

Due to the increasing number of elderly and an increase in the number of cases of cancer by age, cancer is a common problem in the elderly. For elderly patients with cancer, the disease and its treatment can have long‑term negative effects on their quality of life (QoL). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of progressive muscle relaxation, body image and deep diaphragmatic breathing on the QoL in the elderly with cancer.

This study was a randomized controlled trial in which 50 elderly patients with breast or prostate cancer were randomized into study and control groups. Progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, and deep diaphragmatic breathing were given to the study group, but not to the control group. The effect of the progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery and deep diaphragmatic breathing was measured at three different time points. European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer and QoL Questionnaire‑Core questionnaires was completed before, after and 6 weeks after the intervention for the patients in both groups simultaneously. The data were analyzed by SPSS.

There was statistically significant improvement in QoL (P < 0.001) and physical functioning (P < 0.001) after progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery and deep diaphragmatic breathing intervention.

The findings indicated that concurrent application of progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, and deep diaphragmatic breathing would improve QoL in the elderly with breast or prostate cancer.