Effects of mindfulness-based psychological care on mood and sleep of leukemia patients in chemotherapy.
Ruixing Zhang, Jie Yin, Yang Zhou
PMID 31406777WHAT IT FOUND
Leukemia patients receiving usual chemotherapy care plus guided mindfulness practice during infusions reported less anxiety, depression and sleep disturbance than patients receiving usual care alone.
The usual-care group did not improve over five weeks.
Key findings
01The mindfulness group improved on insomnia, anxiety and depression from pre-test to post-test, while the usual-care group did not.
02After treatment, the mindfulness group had significantly better sleep, anxiety and depression scores than the usual-care group.
03No participant in the mindfulness group reported side effects or discomfort, and 90.9% expressed high satisfaction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done in one medical center with Chinese leukemia patients, so results may not apply to other settings or populations. Thirty-eight patients were assigned to each group, but only 33 and 32 were analysed after the intervention. The outcomes were self-reported, and the paper does not report blinding of patients, caregivers or data collectors. The mindfulness group received usual care plus guided practice, caregiver counseling, audio and music, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The authors did not test long-term effects after the five-week intervention.
Declared interests
The work was supported by a Henan Province research program and the Nursing College of Zhengzhou University. The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that mindfulness meditation alone caused the improvement. The intervention was given during chemotherapy infusions as an addition to usual care, with caregiver guidance, audio, music and daily practice, so the effect of any single component cannot be separated.