Psychological, clinical and pathological effects of relaxation training and guided imagery during primary chemotherapy (original) (raw)
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PLOS ONE, 2016
Objective Patients receiving chemotherapy often experience many different symptoms that can be difficult to alleviate and ultimately negatively influence their quality of life. Such symptoms include pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and retching, anxiety and depression. There is a gap in the relevant literature on the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural and relaxation techniques in symptom clusters. The study reflects this gap in the literature and aimed to test the effectiveness of Guided Imagery (GI) and Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) on a cluster of symptoms experienced by patients undergoing chemotherapy. Methods This was a randomized control trial with 208 patients equally assigned either in the intervention or the control group. Measurements in both groups were collected at baseline and at completion of intervention (4 weeks). Patients were assessed for pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and retching, anxiety and depression. The overall management of the cluster was also assessed based on the patients' self-reported health related quality of life-HRQoL. Chisquare tests (X 2), independent T-tests and Linear Mixed Models were calculated. Results Patients in the intervention group experienced lower levels of Fatigue (p<0.0.0225), and Pain (p = 0.0003) compared to those in the control group and experienced better HRQoL (p<0.
2015
A study to assess the effectiveness of guided imagery in terms of reduction of pain and stress among cancer patients admitted at International Cancer Center. The Objectives were; 1. To assess the pre-test and post-test level of pain among cancer patients. 2. To assess the pre-test and post-test level of stress among cancer patients. 3. To determine the effectiveness of guided imagery in terms of reduction of pain among cancer patients. 4. To determine the effectiveness of guided imagery in terms of reduction of stress among cancer patients. 5. To find out the association between level of pain and stress with their selected demographic variables. The study can be conducted by using a large population to generalize the findings. The effectiveness of Guided imagery can be evaluated for other conditions like reducing side effects of chemotherapy, anxiety level. Study can be replicated with subjects from different settings. A comparative study can also be done between the effectiveness o...
Guided imagery effects on chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting in Iranian breast cancer patients
Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 2016
Background: The objective of this study was to examine the effect of guided imagery on chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting in breast cancer patients. Design: This was a quasi-experimental study in which a group of sample was evaluated pre and post intervention. A convenience sample of 55 eligible breast cancer patients enrolled to participate in this study after giving informed consent. They completed the Morrow Assessment of Nausea and Vomiting, before and after the intervention. The intervention consisted of listening to the two guided imagery tracks. Findings: After the intervention, patients at the third session of chemotherapy had significantly lower mean scores in the frequency and severity of nausea and vomiting pre and post chemotherapy (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Guided imagery, as an inexpensive and noninvasive method, is particularly appealing option to alleviate chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting. It can be used in addition to pharmacological strategies and can be implemented by patients independently with sufficient training. Therefore, this therapy will considerably improve severity and frequency of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting.
2016
A study to assess the effectiveness of guided imagery in terms of reduction of pain and stress among cancer patients admitted at International Cancer Center. The Objectives were; 1. To assess the pre-test and post-test level of pain among cancer patients. 2. To assess the pre-test and post-test level of stress among cancer patients. 3. To determine the effectiveness of guided imagery in terms of reduction of pain among cancer patients. 4. To determine the effectiveness of guided imagery in terms of reduction of stress among cancer patients. 5. To find out the association between level of pain and stress with their selected demographic variables. The Following Hypotheses were set for the Study: H1: Patients with cancer pain will experience significant reduction in pain with exposure to Guided Imagery than pre-intervention phase. H2: Patients with cancer will experience significant reduction in stress with exposure to Guided Imagery than pre-intervention phase. H3: There will be signi...
Breast, 2009
Eighty women undergoing multimodality treatment for large (>4 cm) or locally advanced (T3, T4, Tx, N2), breast cancers participated in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the immuno-modulatory effects of relaxation training and guided imagery. Patients underwent chemotherapy followed by surgery, radiotherapy, and hormone therapy. Those in the intervention group were taught relaxation and guided imagery. Patients kept diaries of the frequency of relaxation practice and imagery vividness. On 10 occasions during the 37 weeks following the diagnosis, blood was taken for immunological assays CD phenotyping: T cell subsets (helper, cytotoxic), natural killer (NK) and lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells, B lymphocytes and monocytes; cytotoxicity: NK and LAK cell activities; cytokines interleukin 1 beta (1b), 2, 4 and 6 and tumour necrosis factor alpha. Significant between-group differences were found in the number of CD25þ (activated T cells) and CD56þ (LAK cell) subsets. The number of CD3þ (mature) T cells was significantly higher following chemotherapy and radiotherapy, in patients randomised to relaxation and guided imagery. Using a median split, women who rated their imagery ratings highly had elevated levels of NK cell activity at the end of chemotherapy and at follow-up. Significant correlations were obtained between imagery ratings and baseline corrected values for NK and LAK cell activity, and IL1b. Relaxation frequency correlated with the number of CD4þ (T helper) cells, the CD4þ:8þ (helper:cytotoxic) ratio, and IL1b levels. Relaxation training and guided imagery beneficially altered putative anti-cancer host defences during and after multimodality therapy. Such changes, to the best of our knowledge, have not been previously documented in a RCT.
Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 2007
Objective: Treatment of breast cancer is usually associated with significant psychological stress. In this study, we examined the effects of relaxation and visualization therapy (RVT) on psychological distress, cortisol levels, and immunological parameters of breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental (n=20) who underwent group RVT for 24 consecutive days or control group (n=14) who were on radiotherapy only. Psychological scores (stress, anxiety, and depression) were measured by structured clinical interviews. Salivary cortisol was assessed along the day. Lymphocytes were isolated and cultured to measure T-cell proliferation and sensitivity to glucocorticoids (GCs). Results: RVT was effective to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression scores (all P b.05). However, cortisol levels as well as proliferation remained unchanged following RVT. Although T cells of experimental group were more sensitive to GCs than cells of controls at baseline, no changes were noted following RVT. Cortisol levels were positively correlated to anxiety and depression scores and inversely correlated to T-cell proliferation and sensitivity to GCs. Conclusion: We conclude that the psychological intervention was capable to attenuate the emotional distress presented during radiotherapy treatment. A longer RVT or worse psychological morbidity at baseline may be necessary to translate psychological into biological changes.
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2015
Objective. To test the effectiveness of guided imagery (GI) and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) as stress reducing interventions in patients with prostate and breast cancer who undergo chemotherapy. Methods. Patients were randomly assigned to either the control group or the intervention group (PMR and GI). Patients were observed for a total duration of 3 weeks and assessed with the SAS and BECK-II questionnaires for anxiety and depression, respectively, in addiotion to two biological markers (saliva cortisol and saliva amylase) (trial registration number: NCT01275872). Results. 256 patients were registered and 236 were randomly assigned. In total 104 were randomised to the control group and 104 to the intervention group. Intervention&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s mean anxiety score and depression score changes were significantly different compared to the control&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s (b = -29.4, p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001; b = -29.4, p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001, resp.). Intervention group&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s cortisol levels before the intervention (0.30 ± 0.25) gradually decreased up to week 3 (0.16 ± 0.18), whilst the control group&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s cortisol levels before the intervention (0.21 ± 0.22) gradually increased up to week 3 (0.44 ± 0.35). The same interaction appears for the Amylase levels (p &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt; 0.001). Conclusions. The findings showed that patients with prostate and breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy treatment can benefit from PMR and GI sessions to reduce their anxiety and depression.