The Effect of Group Behavioral Activation Therapy on Chemotherapy - induced Nausea and Vomiting among Women with Breast Cancer

Nausea and vomiting are one of the most common and worst side effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patient and and despite the advances in medical science, Chemotherapy Induced Nausea and Vomiting is still a challenge to control.The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of group behavioral activation therapy on Chemotherapy Induced Nausea and Vomiting among women with breast cancer.

This clinical trial is a semi-experimental design with pre/post-test, and control group. All patients with breast cancer who referred to IranMehr Hospital of Birjand in 2018 were selected as sample population. According to the criteria for entering and leaving the study, 30 women with breast cancer who were selected by available sampling method were randomly divided into intervention and control groups (each group including 15 subjects). The intervention group received treatment program of group behavioral activation weekly in during 8 sessions of 120 minutes. All participants were evaluated in the first and last sessions by Nausea and Vomiting questionnaire. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance by SPSS-20 software

The mean post-test scores of intensity (p<0.05, F=84.148), duration (p<0.05, F=22.174) of acute nausea and intensity of acute vomiting (p<0.05, F=6.741) in the intervention group were significantly lower than the post-test scores of the control group, but after remove of the pre-test, there was no significant difference between the mean post-test scores of the acute vomiting duration in the two groups (p=0.195>0.05, F=1.765).

Group behavioral activation therapy significantly reduced the intensity/duration of acute nausea and the intensity of acute vomiting induced chemotherapy in women with breast cancer. Thus, this therapy can be a practical and promising treatment during chemotherapy.