Life skills training effectiveness on non-metastatic breast cancer mental health: a clinical trial.
BACKGROUND
Patients with breast cancer are predisposed to some psychiatric symptoms and mental disorders due to their life styles or disease conditions. These problems cause patients to deal with daily stress, feeling guilty, anxiety, dysphoric mood, and impaired social relations. Such problems would lead to serious mental disorders.


OBJECTIVE
Therefore, life skills training may help patients to cope better with their condition, and improve their mental health.


METHODS
In an experimental study, 50 patients with breast cancer were selected randomly and assigned to 2 experimental and control groups. The experimental group attended life skills training classes for 10 weeks continuously (each class lasting 2 hours). Participants in both the experimental and control groups completed a GHQ-28 questionnaire form before the commencement of classes, and again after 2 weeks to 2 months of the course completion. T-test was used as the statistical method.


RESULTS
In life skills training group, depressive and anxiety symptoms, somatization disorders, sleep disorders and disorders of social functioning were significantly decreased (p<0.0001). These changes were not observed in the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
The results showed that life skills training is an effective method in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, sleep and somatic disorders. Also, it would be useful in reducing problems of social dysfunction.
Department of Psychiatry, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IR Iran.
Mina
M
Shabani
Departments of Hematology and Oncology, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IR Iran.
Minoosh
M
Moghimi
Department of Radiation Oncology, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IR Iran.
Reza
R
Eghdam Zamiri
Departments of Hematology and Oncology, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IR Iran.
Fatemeh
F
Nazari
Department of Statistics, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IR Iran.
Nouraddin
N
Mousavinasab
Zanjan Metabolic Disease Research Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IR Iran.
Zahra
Z
Shajari
Breast Neoplasms; Education; Life; Quality of Life; Skill