The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Treat Depression and Anxiety and Improve Quality of Life Among Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients

• Published in: Integrative cancer therapies Vol. 18; p. 1534735419829573
• Main Authors: Sun, Haoyao, Huang, Hualei, Ji, Shengjun, Chen, Xiaochen, Xu, Yongqing, Zhu, Fenglan, Wu, Jinchang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-01-2019; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Anxiety; Anxiety - psychology; Anxiety - therapy; Behavior modification; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - complications; Breast Neoplasms - psychology; Cancer Survivors - psychology; Clinical trials; Cognitive ability; Cognitive behavioral therapy; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - methods; Depression - etiology; Depression - psychology; Depression - therapy; Humans; Mental depression; Patients; Quality of Life; anxiety; depression; quality of life; breast neoplasms; cognitive therapy
• ISSN: 1534-7354; 1552-695X
• DOI: 10.1177/1534735419829573

Purpose: Positive results have appeared among nonmetastatic breast cancer patients with the use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, earlier stage patient results have been mixed. This novelty of this study was the focus on stage I and II breast cancer patients. The objective of the current study was to conduct a meta-analysis of psychosocial functions in early-stage breast cancer survivors to determine its efficacy. Methods: A search of Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and PubMed yielded 3237 abstracts, which were independently evaluated by research pairs. Meta-analysis was conducted on 8 studies that included a total of 1053 patients. Psychosocial functions were categorized according to 3 domains: (1) anxiety, (2) depression, and (3) quality of life. Results: Improvement in anxiety was observed in patients treated with CBT relative to controls without CBT (P = .04). Depression and quality of life improvement was not observed in the CBT group within or after 4 months of treatment (P > .05). Conclusions: The results indicated that observed improvements in anxiety in patients with early-stage breast cancer were moderate. The effectiveness of CBT for the improvement of patient outcomes could not be determined, given the methodological and clinical shortcomings of the included trials.