Effectiveness of a nurse-led Mindfulness-based Tai Chi Chuan (MTCC) program on Posttraumatic Growth and perceived stress and anxiety of breast cancer survivors.

Background: With the development of positive psychology, posttraumatic growth research on cancer patients has attracted increasing attention from researchers. It is immensely important to effectively increase the posttraumatic growth level of cancer patients and improve their quality of life. Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of a nurse-led mindfulness-based Tai Chi Chuan (MTCC) programme for increasing posttraumatic growth (PTG) and decreasing the perceived stress and anxiety of breast cancer survivors. Methods: A RCT was conducted. Participants were randomly assigned to either the MTCC group or the control group. The programme included 59 women with stage I-III breast cancer. Participants in the intervention group participated in a nurse-led 8-week, twice a week, one-hour per day mindfulness-based exercise programme. The effectiveness of the intervention was measured three times (T1 - before intervention; T2 - after intervention; T3 - one year after intervention) using validated scales, including the PTG inventory (PTGI), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). A repeated-measure analysis of variance model was used to analyse the data. Results: Compared with the wait-list control group, the PTG level in the MTCC group was much higher after the 8-week intervention and the follow-up (F = 374.98, P < .000). The results showed that MTCC increased the level of PTG, and the effect persisted 1 year after intervention. In addition, PSS (F = 55.22, P < .000) and SAS (F = 148.92, P < .000) scores were significantly decreased at T2 and T3. Conclusion: The research preliminarily revealed that the MTCC programme was simple, effective, and more suitable to clinical nurses which should be recommended to cancer survivors to promote their recovery.

Antecedentes: Con el desarrollo de la psicología positiva, la investigación de crecimiento postraumático en pacientes con cáncer ha atraído cada vez más la atención de los investigadores. Es sumamente importante aumentar de manera eficaz el nivel de crecimiento postraumático de los pacientes con cáncer y mejorar su calidad de vida.Objetivos: Investigar la efectividad de un programa de Tai Chi Chuan basado en mindfulness (MTCC en sus siglas en inglés) dirigido por enfermeras para aumentar el crecimiento postraumático (PTG en sus siglas en inglés) y disminuir la percepción de estrés y ansiedad de las sobrevivientes de cáncer de mama.Métodos: Se condujo un ECA. Las participantes fueron asignadas al azar al grupo MTCC o al grupo control. El programa incluyó a cincuenta y nueve mujeres con cáncer de mama en estadio I-III. Las participantes en el grupo de intervención participaron en un programa de ejercicios basados en mindfulness dirigido por enfermeras, de 8 semanas, dos veces por semana, de una hora diaria. La efectividad de la intervención se midió tres veces (T1 ­ antes de la intervención; T2 ­ después de la intervención; T3 ­ un año después de la intervención) usando escalas validadas, incluidas el inventario de PTG (PTGI), la Escala de Estrés Percibida (PSS) y la Escala de Ansiedad Auto-reportada (SAS). Para analizar los datos se utilizó un modelo de análisis de varianza de medidas repetidas.Resultados: En comparación con el grupo control de la lista de espera, el nivel de PTG en el grupo MTCC fue mucho más alto después de intervención de 8 semanas y al seguimiento (F = 374.98, P< 0.000). Los resultados mostraron que la MTCC aumentó los niveles de PTG y el efecto persistió un año después de la intervención. Además, las puntuaciones de PSS (F = 55.22, P< 0.000) y SAS (F = 148.92, P< 0.000) disminuyeron significativamente en T2 y T3.Conclusiones: Las investigaciones preliminares revelaron que el programa de MTCC era simple, efectivo y más adecuado para las enfermeras clínicas, lo que debería recomendarse a las sobrevivientes de cáncer para promover su recuperación.

Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on prenatal stress, anxiety and depression.

Low well-being is common among Chinese pregnant women but few effective interventions currently exist to improve prenatal stress and negative emotions. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) has been proved to be effective in reducing stress and rarely studies were focused on Chinese pregnant women. The aim of the current paper is to investigate the effects of 8-week MBSR on prenatal stress, anxiety and depression among Chinese pregnant women. A sample of 66 pregnant women randomly allocated into either the MBSR group (n=34) or the control group (n=32). Participants in the MBSR group received a group 8-week, 90-min each time intervention. The results found a significant interaction between time and condition for prenatal stress (F=45.51, p<0.001, η 2=0.427), anxiety (F=19.30, p<0.001, η 2=0.240), while depression showed no time-by-group interaction (F=0.29, p=0.589, η 2=0.005). As for the sub-scale of state anxiety, while there was only no time effect (F=3.68, p=0.060, η 2=0.057). The findings of this study preliminary indicated effects of the MBSR intervention on self-reported prenatal stress and anxiety in comparison to a treatment-as-usual control. Effect on depression was not observed may due to the low level of depression of participants. This study provides preliminary evidence that MBSR is suitable for Chinese pregnant women and be effective in decreasing prenatal stress, anxiety.

Randomized controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on posttraumatic growth of Chinese breast cancer survivors.

Breast cancer (BC) patients in China suffered from a variety of psychology stress such as perceived stress and anxiety, posttraumatic growth (PTG) as a positive factor could promote their psychology health and quality of life. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on promoting PTG, decreasing perceived stress and anxiety of Chinese BC patients. A randomized controlled trial of 60 BC patients (Stages I-III) was conducted. They were randomly divided to the 8-week MBSR group or usual care (UC) group. PTG inventory, Perceived Stress Scale of Chinese version (CPSS) and State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) evaluated the PTG level, perceived stress and anxiety at three times(before intervention-T1, after intervention-T2 and follow up at 3 months-T3). A repeated-measures analysis of variance model was used to compare each outcome measure of two groups at the three times. There was one patient discontinued the intervention and one lose to follow up in MBSR group, finally 58 BC patients completed the research. There was no difference between two groups before the intervention. The results showed significant improvements in MBSR group comparing with the UC group that PTG level was much higher after the 8-week intervention and the follow up (F = 34.73, p < .00). At the same time, CPSS (F = 14.41, p < .00) and STAI (F = 15.24, p < .00) scores were significant decreased at T2 and T3. The results showed that MBSR promoted the level of PTG and decreased perceived stress and anxiety state of Chinese BC patients, and the results persisted at three months after intervention. The research preliminary proved that MBSR was suitable to Chinese BC patients. MBSR should be recommending to BC survivors in China.

Optimal timing for initiation of biofeedback-assisted relaxation training in hospitalized coronary heart disease patients with sleep disturbances.

BACKGROUND: Clinical studies have shown that biofeedback-assisted relaxation positively influences the treatment outcomes of sleep disturbance. However, there are only few studies reporting the timing of relaxation training initiation, and the relationships between the timing of initiation and the effectiveness of relaxation remain unclear. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the optimal timing for initiating nurse-led biofeedback-assisted relaxation on hospitalized coronary heart disease patients with sleep disturbance. METHODS: An experimental pretest and repeated posttest design was used to compare the effectiveness of nurse-led biofeedback-assisted relaxation. A total of 128 patients with coronary heart disease were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: morning group, night group, morning-night group, or control group. Outcome measures included self-report of sleep-related indicators, the scores of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Zung's Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and the dosage of sleep medication used. A 2-way analysis of variance and a simple effect test were used to analyze the differences among the 4 groups. RESULTS: No significant differences could be detected at baseline. Compared with the control group, the nurse-led biofeedback-assisted relaxation yielded a greater benefit for patients in the 3 intervention groups. Group and time factors (pretest-protest) could explain the variation in the effectiveness of this program (main effect P < .01). There were statistical differences among the groups: patients in the night group (FSOL = 33.15, P < .001; FTST = 17.99, P < .001; FSE = 10.26, P = .002; FPSQI = 27.38, P < .001; FSAS = 54.39, P < .001, respectively) and in the morning-night group (FSOL = 33.62, P < .001; FTST = 34.13, P < .001; FSE = 24.04, P < .001; FPSQI = 31.26, P < .001; FSAS = 73.93, P < .001, respectively) had slightly shorter sleep latency, experienced fewer awakenings, reported higher sleep quality, and used significantly fewer sleep medications than the morning group did (F = 32.97, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The timing of the initiation of nurse-led biofeedback-assisted relaxation was 1 of the factors affecting the effectiveness of relaxation. Relaxation training either at night or in the morning-night combination could effectively enhance sleep quality and decrease the need for of sleep medications in hospitalized patients with sleep disturbance.