Effectiveness of Stress Management Consultation for Quality of Life and Stress of Women Suffering from Breast Cancer

Abstract

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women which endangers different aspects like individual, public health, and life quality.</p><p><strong>OBJECTIVES:</strong> The aim of the present study is to investigate the consultation effectiveness of stress management on the quality of life and stress of women suffering from breast cancer.</p><p><strong>METHODS:</strong> A semi-experimental research was performed with pre- and post-test design as well as control and test groups. For this purpose, 104 women suffering from breast cancer who referred to Mahdiyeh MRI and Hamedan Donors Assembly in 2015 were selected based on convenience sampling and randomly placed in two test and control groups including 52 people using permutation blocks. The test group received 9 two-hour consultation sessions of stress management, but the control group did not receive any consultation. Tools of gathering data included the questionnaire about demographic characteristics and standard questionnaire of life quality, (SF 36) and Harry's questionnaire completed by the patients of two groups before and at the end of the treatment. For the data analysis, descriptive statistics, two-factor variance, and multivariate covariance were used.</p><p><strong>RESULTS:</strong> The results of the research showed that cognitive-behavioral therapy group of stress management showed an increase in the quality of life in dimensions of physical performance, emotional health, social performance, and public health, and total score of quality of life, but there was no significant effect in limitation dimensions causing emotional, energy and exhilaration, pain, and physical problems. A significant difference was observed in the average scores of stress in the test and control groups before and after the intervention (P 0.000) and stress of the test group compared to the control was reduced in the post-test and follow-up.</p><p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>The obtained results showed that cognitive-behavioral therapy group of stress management had an increase inquality of life and its subscales and also experienced reduced stress in the test group after the intervention. Therefore, this method can be used as one of the complementary therapies besides medical therapy in oncology centers.</p>

The Effect of an Educational-Supportive Intervention on the Perceived Stress and Nutritional Status of Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy

“…Further, in addition to practical informational support, stress control techniques (such as relaxation, creative visualization, and repetition of positive sentences) and breathing techniques were taught to the patients to cope with stress. The findings of the present study were also in line with the results of previous studies, for instance, Mardani Hamoleh et al ( 28 (19). These studies used techniques such as education support, increasing the knowledge of patients by nurses, family engagement in patient care, and social and psychological support techniques to cope with perceived stress,…”

“…In other words, training nurses to manage these complications can increase the patient's sense of efficiency and ultimately reduce their stress. Some studies have reported that patients who learn how to manage the side effects of chemotherapy (including stress and nutritional status) strengthen their self-esteem and improve their physical and mental health (19,20). Ataollahi et al showed that perceived stress and social support were major factors in cancer treatment (21).…”

Effectiveness of yoga on anxiety, depression and stress level of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy

“…11 Another study by Shayan A. et al on effectiveness of stress management on the quality of life and stress of women suffering from breast cancer reported a significant difference in the average scores of stress in the test and control groups before and after the intervention (P 0.000) and stress of the test group compared to the control was reduced in the post-test and follow-up. 12 The results were further supported by randomized clinical trial conducted by Charalambous A et al reported that intervention group's mean anxiety score and depression score changes were significantly different compared to the control's (b = −29.4, p< 0.001; b = −29.4, p< 0.001, respectively).…”

Psychological interventions for sexual function and satisfaction of women with breast cancer: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Among the 15 studies meeting the inclusion criteria for this review, 10 were RCTs (Abedini et al, 2020; Bagherzadeh et al, 2021; Baucom et al, 2009; Esplen et al, 2018; Fatehi et al, 2019; Hummel et al, 2017; Nicolaisen et al, 2018; Reese et al, 2019; Rowland et al, 2009; Zangeneh et al, 2019), and five were quasi‐experimental trials (de Almeida et al, 2020; Faghani & Ghaffari, 2016; Jalambadani et al, 2018; Jun et al, 2011; Shayan et al, 2017). More than half of the studies were conducted in low‐income or middle‐income countries ( n = 8): seven in Iran (Abedini et al, 2020; Bagherzadeh et al, 2021; Faghani & Ghaffari, 2016; Fatehi et al, 2019; Jalambadani et al, 2018; Shayan et al, 2017; Zangeneh et al, 2019) and one in Brazil (de Almeida et al, 2020). Seven studies were carried out in high‐income countries, three in the United States (Baucom et al, 2009; Reese et al, 2019; Rowland et al, 2009), one in the Netherlands (Hummel et al, 2017), one in Canada (Esplen et al, 2018), Korea (Jun et al, 2011) and Denmark (Nicolaisen et al, 2018).…”

“…Three studies did not cite the providers of the psychological interventions (Bagherzadeh et al, 2021;Jalambadani et al, 2018;Zangeneh et al, 2019). The number of psychological intervention sessions ranged (de Almeida et al, 2020;Baucom et al, 2009;Esplen et al, 2018;Faghani & Ghaffari, 2016;Fatehi et al, 2019;Hummel et al, 2017;Jalambadani et al, 2018;Reese et al, 2019;Rowland et al, 2009;Shayan et al, 2017;Zangeneh et al, 2019); (3) skill training: communication skills, strategies for the management of stress, sensual touching exercises and imagery exercises (Hummel et al, 2017;Reese et al, 2019;Rowland et al, 2009); (4) expression of emotion: sharing thoughts and feelings (Baucom et al, 2009;Faghani & Ghaffari, 2016;Reese et al, 2019); and (5) a relationship enhancement programme (Reese et al, 2019).…”