The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Quality of Life, Emotional Distress, and Pain Intensity among Women with Breast Cancer

AbstractBackground: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction training onimproving quality of life, emotional distress, and pain intensity among women with breast cancer.Methods: In this semi-experimental research, a pretest-post-test design with a control group (unequal) was used. Its statisticalpopulation included all women with breast cancer in Sirjan city in ۲۰۲۱. Forty women with breast cancer in Sirjan city in ۲۰۲۱were selected using the convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group.At first, a pre-test was taken from both groups. Then, mindfulness-based stress reduction training was implemented for theexperimental group, and no intervention was performed for the control group. To collect data, the quality-of-life questionnaireof the World Health Organization and the emotional distress questionnaire were used. The research data were analyzed usingcovariance analysis.Results: The quality-of-life scores in the experimental group increased from ۲۰.۵۴ in the pre-test phase to ۸۵.۹۷ in the post-testphase and decreased from ۴۸.۸۵ to ۳۹.۰۵ in the control group. The emotional distress score in the experimental group decreasedfrom ۱۰۰.۰۵ in the pre-test to ۵۱.۴۰ in the post-test stage. In the control group, the emotional distress decreased from ۱۰۷.۱ inthe pretest to ۱۰۳.۷ in the post-test stage. Also, in the experimental group, the pain intensity scores decreased from ۸.۶۰ in thepre-test to ۴.۳۵ in the post-test. In the control group, the pain intensity decreased from ۷.۲۰ in the pre-test to ۷.۸۰ in the post-test.Conclusion: Stress reduction methods based on mindfulness can be effective in the quality of life, emotional distress, and painintensity in women with breast cancer. According to the results, it seems necessary for nurses, doctors, and patients to cooperatewith psychologists to carry out interventions.

کلیدواژه ها:

Mindfulness-based stress reduction ، Quality-of-life ، Emotional distress and pain intensity ، breast cancer