Effect of Compassion-focused Therapy on Depression, anxiety, Stress, and Quality of Life in Patients With Cancer: A Clinical Trial

Objectives :

Cancer is a chronic and life-threatening disease. More than 50% of patients with cancer suffer from some psychological disorders. Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) is a new approach in psychology. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of CFT on some Pychological Sympthoms and quality of life of cancer patients.

Methods :

This is a randomized clinical trial with a pre-test-post-test design. Thirty cancer patients referred to the chemotherapy ward of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, Iran, were selected by a convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group received CFT for 8 weeks. All participants were assessed by self-compassion scale (SCS), depression anxiety stress (DASS), and EORTC QLQ-C30 before, immediately after the intervention. Data were analyzed by Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)with SPSS software, version 23.

Results :

Anxiety, depression, and stress were significantly reduced in the intervention group in the post-test and follow-up phases (P<0.01). the quality of life significantly increased after treatment compared to the control group. 

Conclusion :

 CFT can be an effective treatment for reducing depression, anxiety, and stress and improving the QoL of patients with cancer.