title: Effects of meditation on anxiety, depression, fatigue, and quality of life of women undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effects of meditation on anxiety, depression, fatigue, and quality of life in women who are receiving radiation therapy for breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized, non-program controlled, parallel intervention clinical trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  The ASAN Cancer Center located in Seoul, Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects of this study included 102 female breast cancer patients who had undergone breast-conserving surgery; these female patients were randomized into equally assigned meditation control groups, with each group consisting of 51 patients. The test group received a total of 12 meditation therapy sessions during their 6-week radiation therapy period, and the control group underwent only a conventional radiation therapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The tools used to evaluate the effects of meditation were Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, Revised Piper Fatigue scale, and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Quality of Life Core-30. The results were analyzed based on the principles of intention-to-treat analysis, and, as a corollary analysis, per-protocol analysis was conducted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The breast cancer patients who received meditation therapy compared with the non-intervention group saw improvements in reduction of anxiety (p=.032), fatigue (p=.030), and improvement in global quality of life (p=.028).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on the results of this study, an affirmation can be made that meditation can be used as a non-invasive intervention treatment for improving fatigue, anxiety, quality of life, and emotional faculties of women with breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yeon Hee
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hwa Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung Do
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Yun Jeong
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: So Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D019122:Meditation; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life
keywords: Anxiety; Breast cancer; Fatigue; Meditation; Quality of life