Comparison of the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy, fluvoxamine and their combination on depression in women with breast cancer

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy, Fluvoxamine, and their combination on depression in women with breast cancer.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-and post-test design. The study population was women with breast cancer who were referred to health centers in region two in 2021. Forty-five people were selected by convenience method and then randomly placed in three groups (each n=15), including dialectical behavior therapy, Fluvoxamine (medication), and a combination of both. The first group received eight sessions of 90 minutes of dialectical behavior therapy, the second group received 200 mg of oral Fluvoxamine daily, and the third group received a combination of both methods. Data were collected by Depression Inventory and analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance and Bonferroni post hoc test.

The results showed that in the pre-test stage, the groups were not significantly different in terms of depression and dialectical behavior therapy (p> 0.05), but in the post-test stage, there was a significant difference (p <0.05). The combined method significantly reduced depression compared to dialectical behavior therapy and medication, but there was no significant difference between dialectical behavior therapy and medication in reducing depression. Also, dialectical and combination behavior therapy significantly reduced depression in comparison with Fluvoxamine.

Based on the results, a combination method can relieve depression in women with breast cancer.