Objective
To understand the feasibility of recruiting people with advanced cancer into a randomised controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) vs a standardised talking control (TC) and delivering ACT to this population; to explore the acceptability of outcome measures and generate normative data.
Methods
This was a feasibility two‐arm randomised controlled trial. Participants were attendees with advanced cancer at one of three hospice‐based day‐therapy units in London, United Kingdom, who demonstrated low scores on the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapies—General (FACT‐G). The primary end point was 3 months.
Results
The recruitment target was 54 participants; 42 people were recruited and randomised to up to eight individual sessions of ACT (n = 20) or TC (n = 22). Eighteen out of 42 (43%) of participants completed the primary outcome at 3 months, and at least one follow‐up was available in 30/42 (71%) participants. An exploratory analysis revealed a non‐significant adjusted mean difference after 3 months in the main outcome FACT‐G of −3.41 (CI = −18.61‐11.79) with TC having better functioning. Over 6 months, the adjusted mean difference between trial arms was 2.25 (CI = −6.03‐10.52) in favour of ACT.
Conclusions
It is feasible to recruit people with advanced cancer in a trial of ACT versus TC. Future research should test the effectiveness of ACT in a fully powered trial.
Prostate cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK. Ten-year survival is high; consequently a service priority is addressing survivorship issues to support men living with the longer term consequences of the disease and its treatments. This paper presents a treatment manual which has been tested with couples following prostate cancer surgery to decrease distress in sexual functioning, and improve relational functioning. The content of the manual is described alongside a fictionalised case vignette that illustrates the content and process of sessions. The paper presents the RIPSToP Model (RelatIonal PSychosexual Treatment for couples with Prostate cancer).The manual was developed and piloted in a mixed-method feasibility and acceptability randomised pilot control trial. Qualitative interviews with clinicians delivering the intervention indicate that the manual was acceptable.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01842438.
Practitioner Points: A systemic manual for supporting couples after prostate cancer surgery has been developed. 3
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