Stress and Quality of Life in Cancer Patients: Medical and Psychological Intervention

Abstract

Background: Cancer pervades many dimensions of an individual's life – demanding a holistic treatment approach. However, studies with combined medical and psychological interventions (MPIs) are sparse. High-level stress and poor quality of life (QoL) can hinder patients' prognosis. The study thus aimed to analyze the impact of combined medical and psychological (psychoeducation, relaxation technique–guided imagery, and cognitive therapy) interventions on stress and QoL of cancer patients – head and neck, breast, and lung cancers. Methods: The study was conducted in cancer hospitals employing one-group pretest-posttest-preexperimental design. Descriptive statistics, paired t -test, Cohen's d, and bar graphs were used to analyze the data. Results: Findings showed high impact of the combined MPIs in reducing both the overall stress as well as the various components of the stress scale-fear, psychosomatic complaints, information deficit, and everyday life restrictions. Significant changes were also seen in QoL and its domains – global health status, besides functional and symptom scales. Results showed a significant improvement in physical, role and emotional functioning scale, while decrement in fatigue, pain, insomnia, appetite loss, diarrhea, and constipation of symptoms scales. Conclusions: It can be concluded that combined MPI has a positive impact – decreasing stress and improving QoL in cancer patients, which can further enhance their prognosis.

Psychological intervention based on psychoneuroimmunology improves clinical evolution, quality of life, and immunity of children with leukemia: A preliminary study

“…However, we observed that an increase in the QoL index was significantly higher in the PNI group than in the controls. The combination of psychoeducation, relaxation technique-guided imagery, and cognitive therapy significantly diminishes stress and increases QoL in patients with head and neck, breast, and lung cancers (Barre et al, 2018). This improvement could be associated with less severe clinical symptoms and a higher immune function since QoL was correlated negatively with duration of fever and positively with CD8+ T and CD4+ T cell count, as well as with IgM and IgA concentration.…”

Mechanisms Supporting the Use of Beta-Blockers for the Management of Breast Cancer Bone Metastasis

“…An important implication of the findings summarized above is that βAR blockade should reduce the levels of VEGF, IL-1β, and RANKL produced by osteoblasts (and presumably osteocytes) in response to sympathetic activation, and thus offer some level of protection against bone metastatic events. It is important to emphasize that, in addition to a number of social stressors, the diagnosis of cancer and its treatment have a significant impact on the stress level of patients [44,[224][225][226][227][228]. β-blockers are used for the treatment of multiple conditions, including congestive heart failure, hypertension, migraines, infantile hemangioma, and thyrotoxicosis [229].…”

Highlighting the Potential for Chronic Stress to Minimize Therapeutic Responses to Radiotherapy through Increased Immunosuppression and Radiation Resistance

“…Psychosocial stress was associated with an increased incidence of colorectal, lung, head and neck, hepatobiliary, esophagus [ 11 ], prostate [ 12 ], bladder, rectal, stomach [ 13 ], and lymphoid or hematopoietic cancers [ 4 ] in some recent studies. Encouragingly, however, combined psychological interventions have a positive impact in cancer patients via decreasing stress and improving quality of life, and further improving prognosis [ 14 ].…”