Nakamura, Y., Lipschitz, D. L., Kuhn, R., Kinney, A. Y., & Donaldson, G. W. (2013). Investigating efficacy of two brief mind-body intervention programs for managing sleep disturbance in cancer survivors: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 7, 165–182.
To determine the effects of mindfulness meditation (MM) and mind-body bridging (MBB) on self-reported sleep disturbance and quality of life (QOL) in cancer survivors.
All interventions lasted for three consecutive weeks, with weekly two-hour sessions. The sleep hygiene education (SHE) group served as an active control group. No usual care group was included.
Participants were undergoing the late effects and survivorship phase of care.
This was a three-arm, randomized, controlled pilot study.
Baseline measurements of sleep differed significantly across groups at baseline (p = 0.011); adjusted baseline scores were used in the analysis. All intervention groups showed significant improvements in sleep quality from baseline (p < 0.001), although no immediate improvement was seen at weeks 2 or 3 of any intervention arm. MM and MBB were effective longer after the intervention than SHE. FACT-G scores improved significantly from baseline in all groups (MBB: p = 0.002; MM: p = 0.010), although no significant difference was revealed in improvement across groups. Mean PSS scores decreased in all groups from baseline but with no significant difference across groups. All three arms had decreased CESD scores (SHE: p = 0.001; MMB: p = 0.008; MM: p = 0.064), with MBB being more effective than SHE in reducing self-reported symptoms of depression (p = 0.040). MBB, but not MM, was also more effective at increasing mindfulness over SHE. Although scores improved for other secondary outcomes, there were no significant differences between groups.
MBB, SHE, and MM may improve sleep quality in cancer survivors. In addition, MBB may improve depressive symptoms and other comorbidities in this population.
Simple targeted interventions may be effective in improving sleep quality in cancer survivors. Nurses should be aware of and assess for sleep disturbances in cancer survivors. Further study of interventions for sleep disturbance are needed to improve QOL for this population. Findings from this study suggest that the interventions studied here are feasible; however, the effectiveness of these interventions cannot be determined.