Pain and Spirituality Outcomes Among Women With Advanced Breast Cancer Participating in a Foot Reflexology Trial.
Megan Miller, Ding Xu, Rebecca Lehto and 3 others
PMID 33337437WHAT IT FOUND
Higher self-reported spirituality was not associated with lower pain.
In women with advanced breast cancer, pain averaged 3.6 out of 10, moderate; younger women, not married or living with a partner, not employed, or receiving hormonal therapy were associated with higher pain.
Key findings
01Women reported mean pain of 3.6 out of 10 and mean spirituality of 3.2 out of 4.
02Self-reported spirituality was not significantly associated with pain, and the group-by-time-by-spirituality interaction was not significant.
03Younger age, not married or living with a partner, not employed or other employment status, and hormonal therapy were associated with higher odds of more pain.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was very homogeneous: 83% Caucasian, 76% had some college education, and 69% were married, and all women were enrolled in a complementary and integrative health trial, so results may not apply to other women with advanced breast cancer. Pain was measured with one 0 to 10 item, so pain interference, unpleasantness, and types of pain such as neuropathic or visceral pain were not captured. This was a secondary analysis, so only measurements already collected in the parent study were available. The reflexology intervention was delivered by lay caregivers, and the study could not account for caregiver willingness or relationship dynamics. Spirituality scores were high on average (3.2 out of 4), which may have left little room to detect a relationship with pain. The analysis could not separate the effect of reflexology from the symptom assessment calls, so it does not establish whether reflexology changed pain.
Declared interests
The supplied text reports that the parent study was supported by grant 5R01CA157459-05. It does not include an author conflict-of-interest declaration.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that foot reflexology or higher spirituality reduces pain. Spirituality was not significantly associated with pain, and this secondary analysis could not determine the reflexology intervention effect on pain.