title: Contemplative self healing in women breast cancer survivors: a pilot study in underserved minority women shows improvement in quality of life and reduced stress.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Among underserved, largely minority women who were breast cancer survivors, this pilot project was designed to evaluate the quality of life outcomes of a 20 week Contemplative Self-Healing Program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women previously treated for stage I-III breast cancer were assessed before and after the 20 week program with the FACT-G, FACT-B, FACIT-Spirituality, ECOG, and the Impact of Events Scale. They participated in a 20-week intervention involving guided meditation and cognitive-affective-behavioral learning.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With an average age of 63, 62% of the participants were African-American or Latino. With an average of 5.4 years since the diagnosis of breast cancer, 72% had an ECOG performance status of 1. 57% were currently working. Their baseline FACT-G was 80.5 ± 15.1, and their baseline Impact of Events Scale was 26.3 ± 18.9. The within-patient improvement on the FACT-G was 4.6 ± 10.9 (p = .01); in parallel the FACT-B improved by 2.8 ± 12.8 points (p = .03). The Impact of Events Scale improved by 6.6 ± 15.5 points (p = .01). There was significant within-patient improvement on both the avoidance scale (3.8 ± 9.2) and on the intrusion scale (2.9 ± 7.9). Patients who attended more sessions and conducted more home practice had greater improvements in quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Persons receiving a 20-session contemplative self healing intervention showed improved quality of life, with a clinically and statistically significant increase in the FACT-G. In addition, this population showed a significant reduction in post-traumatic stress symptoms assessed by the Impact of Events Scale.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Clinical Trials Gov NCT00278837.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluative Sciences Research, Center for Integrative Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, 338 East 66th Street, New York, NY, 10065, USA. mecharl@med.cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Charlson
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Loizzo
authors.forename: Alyson
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moadel
authors.forename: Miles
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neale
authors.forename: Chayim
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Olivo
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Janey C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Peterson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D008875:Middle Aged; D064866:Mindfulness; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D026443:Spiritual Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*