Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on anxiety, depression and immune function in patients with gastric cancer

Abstract

Objective To explore the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on anxiety, depression and immune function in patients with gastric cancer. Methods The study investigated 118 patients with gastric cancer who were hospitalized from March 2011 to February 2015. The participants were randomly divided into the intervention group (n=59) and the control group (n=59). Both groups received conventional mental health education while the intervention group complemented with MBSR intervention once a week (six weeks in total). Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) were used to evaluate patients′ anxiety and depression status before and after the intervention. Moreover, T-cell subsets status could reflect the immune function using phosphatase bridging ELISA. Results Before the intervention, the scores of SAS and SDS had no significant differences between the two groups(P>0.05). However, after the MBSR intervention, the scores for the intervention group significantly reduced and lower than the control group (P 0.05). Furthermore, the CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ and CD4+ /CD8+ had little differences between the two groups before the intervention(P>0.05). However, the CD3+, CD4+ and CD4+ /CD8+ for the intervention group significantly increased with CD8+ reduced after MBSR (P 0.05). Conclusions The MBSR intervention can significantly reduce the negative emotions such as anxiety and depression, and can increase the immunity in patients with gastric cancer. Key words: Anxiety; Depression; Immune function; Gastric cancer; Mindfulness-based stress reduction