Carlson, L.E., & Garland, S.N. (2005). Impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on sleep, mood, stress and fatigue symptoms in cancer outpatients. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 12, 278–285.
The mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention was provided over eight weekly 90-minute group sessions. Details of the intervention have been previously described in Carlson et al. (2003). Participants were asked to complete 45 minutes of meditation homework six days a week and recorded their progress in a homework log. Patient outcomes were assessed at baseline and at week 8.
The MBSR intervention resulted in a statistically significant improvement in fatigue when comparing pre- and post-test outcomes (p < 0.001). Statistically significant relationships also were found between changes in symptoms of stress and fatigue (p < 0.001), as well as changes in mood disturbance and fatigue (p < 0.001). Therefore, with less fatigue, patients also were less stressed and less moody.