Mindfulness Intervention to Improve Symptomology Among Cancer Survivors; Focus on Sleep and Stress Improvement

Prisma Health-Upstate

Status: Completed

Conditions: Cancer Sequelae

Treatments: Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Cancer Survivorship

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02633748

Pro00047213

Details and patient eligibility

About

Mindfulness has been shown to help stress, fatigue, sleep complaints, and other symptoms but has not been extensively studied in cancer survivors. This study will enroll cancer survivors at the Greenville Health System Cancer Institute Center for Integrative Oncology and Survivorship to undergo the Mindfulness Based Cancer Survivorship (MBCS) four-week program, with assessments before, immediately after, and three months after the intervention. Results of the study will be used to develop new care models that improve cancer survivor stress and symptoms using mindfulness.

Full description

Cancer survivors suffer with stress, fatigue, sleep complaints, pain, and many other adverse health effects. Chronic stress is detrimental to quality of life and, potentially, length of survival among cancer survivors. Mindfulness-Based Cancer Survivorship (MBCS) is a four-week standardized mindfulness program, adapted for cancer survivors from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). MBCS teaches formal mindfulness practice (meditation) and informal mindfulness during daily activities. Mindfulness has been shown to help stress, fatigue, sleep complaints, and other symptoms but has not been extensively studied in cancer survivors. This study will enroll cancer survivors at the Greenville Health System Cancer Institute Center for Integrative Oncology and Survivorship to undergo the MBCS four-week mindfulness program, with assessments before, immediately after, and three months after the intervention. The assessments will include 1) questionnaires to measure lifestyle, stress, meditation habits, and sleep impairment, 2) blood tests to measure various biomarkers (e.g., inflammatory cytokines), 3) using a BodyMedia's Sensewear® armband for a week to measure sleep and physical activity, and 4) salivary cortisol levels. The forty participants will be randomized to either the intervention arm, the four-week MBCS mindfulness program, or the control arm, a brief control/breathing course. After the three month post assessment, participants in the control arm will have the opportunity to take the MBCS course. Results of the study will be used to develop new care models that improve cancer survivor stress and symptoms using mindfulness.

Enrollment: 36 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Must be a cancer survivor
• Ability to read, write, and understand English
• Ability to participate in a group

Exclusion criteria

• Previous experience in a MBCS course
• Corticosteroid therapy greater than prednisone 25 mg per day or equivalent

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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36 participants in 2 patient groups

Intervention

Other group

Description:

The twenty participants in the intervention arm will undergo a pre-assessment, post assessment, and a three month follow-up assessment. The pre and post assessments will ask participants to 1) fill out questionnaires to measure lifestyle, stress, meditations habits, and sleep impairment, 2) take a blood sample, 3) use a BodyMedia's Sensewear® armband for a week, and 4) provide salivary cortisol levels. The three month follow-up will repeat everything done if the first two assessments, excluding the blood sample. The intervention arm will also attend the weekly two and a half hour Mindfulness-Based Cancer Survivorship (MBSC) four-week program between the pre and post assessments.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Cancer Survivorship

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

The twenty participants in the control arm will undergo the same pre assessment as the intervention arm, receive a presentation on breathing exercises, and undergo the same post and three-month follow-up assessments. The control arm will also be offered the same Mindfulness-Based Cancer Survivorship program given to the intervention arm following the three month follow-up.