Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Integrated Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Breast Cancer Pain Management

Introduction: Given the high comorbidity of mental conditions and chronic pain in cancer, there is a need for development and administration of interventions for this population. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-integrated cognitive-behavioral therapy (MiCBT) in breast cancer pain management. Methods: In this clinical trial, 24 patients with breast cancer from Omid Hospital in Mashhad were selected via a purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to two groups of intervention (N = 12) and control (N = 12). The participants were assessed using the Short Cancer Pain Scale, Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and Pain Catastrophizing Scale before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention. The participants in the intervention group received MiCBT for 8 weeks. The control group did not receive any intervention from the research team during the research period. Descriptive statistics (percentage, frequency, mean and standard deviation), chi-square tests, t-tests, and multivariate analysis of covariance were used for data analysis. Results: After controlling for the pretest scores, there were significant differences between control and intervention groups in perceived pain, pain catastrophizing, and pain self-efficacy immediately and one month after the intervention (P > 0.001). The perceived pain, pain catastrophizing decreased and pain self-efficacy increased immediately and one month after the intervention (P > 0.001).  Eta square showed 0.85,0.78 and 0.70 change in perceived pain, pain catastrophizing, and pain self-efficacy immediately and one month. In the follow-up phase, Eta squre were 0.87,0.75 and 0.79 for perceived pain, pain catastrophizing, and pain self-efficacy respectively. Conclusion: MiCBT is effective in improving pain, pain self-efficacy, and pain catastrophe in patients with breast cancer. Therefore, considering the cost-effectiveness and availability, this program is recommended as a complementary treatment for breast cancer patients.