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Effects of mindfulness-based therapy for patients with breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Zhang J, Xu R, Wang B, Wang J
Complementary Therapies in Medicine 2016 Jun;26:1-10
systematic review

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the effects of mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) on physical health, psychological health and quality of life (QOL) in patients with breast cancer. METHOD: Studies were identified through a systematic search of six electronic databases. Randomized control trials (RCTs) examining the effects of MBT, versus a control group receiving no intervention on physical health, psychological health and QOL in breast cancer patients were included. Two authors independently assessed the methodological quality of included studies using a quality-scoring instrument developed by Jadad et al and extracted relevant information according to a predesigned extraction form. Data was analysed using the Cochrane Collaboration's Revman5.1. RESULT: Finally, seven studies involving 951 patients were included. While limited in power, the results of meta-analysis indicated a positive effect of MBT in reducing anxiety (SMD -0.31, 95% CI -0.46 to -0.16, p < 0.0001), depression (SMD -1.13, 95% CI -1.85 to -0.41, p = 0.002), fear of recurrence (SMD -0.71, 95% CI -1.05 to -0.38, p < 0.0001), and fatigue (SMD -0.88, 95% CI -1.71 to -0.05, p = 0.04) associated with breast cancer, and improving emotional well-being (SMD 0.39, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.58, p = 0.0001), physical function (SMD 0.42, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.65, p = 0.0004), and physical health (SMD 0.31, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.54, p = 0.009) in these patients. Although the effects on stress, spirituality, pain and sleep were in the expected direction, they were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Moreover, there is limited evidence from a narrative synthesis that MBT can improve QOL of breast cancer patients. CONCLUSION: The present data indicate that MBT is a promising adjunctive therapy for patients with breast cancer. Due to some methodological flaws in the literature, further well-designed RCTs with large sample sizes are needed to confirm these preliminary estimates of effectiveness.

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