A randomized controlled trial of the effects of transcendental meditation on quality of life in older breast cancer patients.
This single-blind, randomized controlled trial evaluated the impact of the Transcendental Meditation program plus standard care as compared with standard care alone on the quality of life (QOL) of older women (>or=55 years) with stage II to IV breast cancer. One hundred and thirty women (mean age = 63.8) were randomly assigned to either experimental (n = 64) or control (n = 66) groups. Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B), Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy- Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-SP), and Short-Form (SF)-36 mental health and vitality scales were administered every 6 months over an average 18-month intervention period. Significant improvements were found in the Transcendental Meditation group compared with controls in overall QOL, measured by the FACT-B total score (P = .037), emotional well-being (P = .046), and social well-being (P = .003) subscales, and SF-36 mental health ( P = .017).


RESULTS
It is recommended that this stress reduction program, with its ease of implementation and home practice, be adopted in public health programs.
Nidich
Sanford I
SI
Natural Medicine and Prevention, Maharishi University of Management Research Institute, Maharishi Vedic City, IA 52556, USA. snidich@mum.edu
Fields
Jeremy Z
JZ
Rainforth
Maxwell V
MV
Pomerantz
Rhoda
R
Cella
David
D
Kristeller
Jean
J
Salerno
John W
JW
Schneider
Robert H
RH
D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019122:Meditation / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D018401:Sample Size; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome