Effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress in catastrophizing cancer pain and tolerance of helplessness caused by the treatment among breast cancer patients

Abstract

Introduction: Interventions based on mindfulness are considered to be one of the cognitive-behavioral treatments, the inclusion of which in patients reduces the psychological stress resulting from such diseases as breast cancer in patients. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction training on the catastrophizing of cancer pain and the tolerance of helplessness caused by the treatment of breast cancer patients. Methods: The present research was an interventional study. The statistical population included all patients with breast cancer treated at Shahada Tajrish Hospital Cancer Center in 2023. A total of 30 patients were selected based on the inclusion criteria and randomly assigned to two groups: experimental (n=15) and control (n=15). Based on Ashrafi's training package, the experimental group received eight 120-minute sessions of stress reduction training based on mindfulness; nonetheless, the control group did not receive any intervention. The standard questionnaires on pain catastrophizing by Sullivan, Bishop, and Pewick and tolerance of helplessness by Simmons and Gaher were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using multivariate covariance analysis in SPSS software (version 26). Results: The mean age scores of subjects in the experimental and control groups were 36.26±6.04 and 47.5±7.59 years, respectively, and there was no significant relationship between the two groups in terms of age (P=0.689). The findings pointed out that a mindfulness-based stress reduction program was effective in reducing pain catastrophizing and tolerance of helplessness among women with breast cancer (P<0.05). Therefore, mindfulness-based stress reduction training reduced pain catastrophizing and increased tolerance of helplessness in women with breast cancer in the experimental group. Conclusion: As evidenced by the results of this study, the use of cognitive behavioral therapy integrated with mindfulness can be an effective treatment in reducing perceived pain and catastrophizing and increasing pain self-efficacy. Therefore, it is suggested that this treatment method be taught to psychologists by experts in different hospital centers.