Effects of Meditation Program on Power, Anxiety, Depression and Quality of Life in Women with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of meditation program on power, depression and Quality of Life (QoL) in women with breast cancer. Methods: In this study Barrett’s Power theory derived from Rogers’ Unitary Human Being Paradigm was used as a theoretical framework. A randomized controlled design was used with 50 participants recruited and randomly allocated. The experimental group (n=20) received the 8-week meditation program. The control group (n=21) received the same program as the experimental group after completion of the first- and eighth-week questionnaires. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows. Results: Results of homogeneity verification of preliminary investigation data showed that there were no significant differences between the experimental and control groups except for power scores. Compared with the control group, patients in the meditation treatment group showed significant improvement in scores for power (t=-6.07, p<.001) and QoL (t=-3.45, p=.001), a significant reduction in scores for anxiety (t=2.74, p=.009) and depression (t=2.20, p=.033). Conclusion: The present trial results demonstrate that the 8-week meditation program significantly reduced anxiety and depression, and improved power and QoL in patients with breast cancer. These results suggest that meditation has positive effects on power, emotion and QoL.