Abstract
Abstract
Background
A cancer diagnosis is a known precipitant of psychological distress, with fear of recurrence being a well-documented distressing consequence of cancer. Cancer recurrence often results in an additional psychological burden, which may exacerbate as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
This is a single-centre, prospective, randomised controlled trial. Patients identified as having experienced cancer recurrence since March 2020 (the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland) will be screened for participation. Eligible, consenting candidates who score 4 or higher on the Distress Thermometer will be enrolled in the study. Participants will be randomly allocated to receive either a 6-week, group-based, online, compassion-focussed therapy and breathing pattern retraining intervention or the control arm. Those in the control arm will all be offered the group intervention after the 18-week study period. The primary outcome is the Distress Thermometer score at 18 weeks post-baseline though secondary outcomes will include measures of mood, traumatic distress and mental adjustment to cancer.
Discussion
To our knowledge, this protocol describes the first RCT which directly examines the effect of a group-based psychological intervention on Irish patients experiencing cancer recurrence in the context of COVID-19. The outcome of this trial is likely to be twofold: It will determine if the psychological intervention achieves its primary objective of distress amelioration 3 months post-intervention and to establish the feasibility of delivering this intervention in a virtual format.
Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05518591. Registered on 25 August 2022. All items from the World Health Organization Trial Registration Data set have been included.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Pharmacology (medical),Medicine (miscellaneous)
Reference33 articles.
1. National Cancer Registry Ireland (2017). Cancer in Ireland 1994–2015 with estimates for 2015–5017: Annual Report of the National Cancer Registry. NCR, Cork, Ireland. Retrieved from: https://www.ncri.ie/sites/ncri/files/pubs/NCRReport_2017_full%20report.pdf
2. Mullan F. Seasons of survival: reflections of a physician with cancer. N Engl J Med. 1985;313(4):270–3. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm198507253130421.
3. Nilsson R, et al. Fear of recurrence in prostate cancer patients: a cross-sectional study after radical prostatectomy or active surveillance. Eur Urology Open Sci. 2021;25:44–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euros.2021.01.002.
4. Bergerot CD, Philip EJ, Bergerot PG, Siddiq N, Tinianov S, & Lustberg M. (2022). Fear of cancer recurrence or progression: what is it and what can we do about it? American Society of Clinical Oncology Educational Book. May 13(42); 18–27. https://doi.org/10.1200/EDBK_100031
5. Chen G, Wu Q, Jiang H, Zhang H, Peng J, Hu J, et al. Fear of disease progression and psychological stress in cancer patients under the outbreak of COVID-19. Psychooncology. 2020;29:1395–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5451.
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献