Complementary medicine for fatigue and cortisol variability in breast cancer survivors
- 5 August 2011
- Vol. 118 (3), 777-787
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.26345
Abstract
Fatigue is a chief complaint in cancer patients, and warrants effective treatment. Biofield therapies are complementary medicine approaches used by cancer populations. There is little information about their efficacy. This blinded, randomized controlled trial examined the effects of 4 weeks (eight 1‐hour sessions) of biofield healing compared with mock healing and a waitlist control group on fatigue in 76 fatigued breast cancer survivors (stages I‐IIIa). Secondary outcomes were diurnal cortisol variability (via estimates of cortisol slope), depression, and quality of life (QOL). Treatment belief was assessed to explore whether belief predicted outcomes. Data were analyzed via hierarchical linear modeling. There were no significant differences between biofield healing and mock healing on belief; 75% thought they received biofield healing. Compared with controls, biofield healing significantly decreased total fatigue (P < .0005, Cohen's d = 1.04), as did mock healing (P = .02, Cohen's d = 0.68), with no significant differences between biofield healing and mock healing. Cortisol slope significantly decreased for biofield healing versus both mock healing and control (P < .04 in both cases; Cohen's d = 0.58). Belief predicted changes in QOL over and above group (P = .004, Cohen's d = 0.84). Belief did not impact fatigue or cortisol variability. Nonspecific factors are important in responses to biofield interventions for fatigue. Belief predicts QOL responses but not fatigue or cortisol variability. Biofield therapies increase cortisol variability independent of belief and other nonspecific factors. There is a need to further examine the effects of specific processes of biofield healing on outcomes for cancer populations. Cancer 2012;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.Keywords
This publication has 35 references indexed in Scilit:
- Diurnal cortisol dysregulation, functional disability, and depression in women with ovarian cancerCancer, 2010
- Large-Core Breast Biopsy: Abnormal Salivary Cortisol Profiles Associated with Uncertainty of DiagnosisRadiology, 2009
- Cancer-Related Fatigue: The Scale of the ProblemThe Oncologist, 2007
- Fatigue in long‐term breast carcinoma survivorsCancer, 2006
- Erythropoietin use in oncology: a summary of the evidence and practice guidelines comparing efforts of the Cochrane Review group and Blue Cross/Blue Shield to set up the ASCO/ASH guidelinesBest Practice & Research Clinical Haematology, 2005
- Flattened cortisol rhythms in metastatic breast cancer patientsPsychoneuroendocrinology, 2004
- Diurnal cortisol rhythm and fatigue in breast cancer survivorsPsychoneuroendocrinology, 2004
- Differential Effects of Paroxetine on Fatigue and Depression: A Randomized, Double-Blind Trial From the University of Rochester Cancer Center Community Clinical Oncology ProgramJournal of Clinical Oncology, 2003
- Diurnal Cortisol Rhythm as a Predictor of Breast Cancer SurvivalJNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2000
- Fatigue, depression and quality of life in cancer patients: how are they related?Supportive Care in Cancer, 1998