+Originally published by 2 Minute Medicine® (view original article). Reused on AccessMedicine with permission.
+1. In this randomized controlled trial, religious psychotherapy was associated with significant improvements in disease perception in Iranian breast cancer patients.
+2. Furthermore, patients who received religious psychotherapy also showed lasting improvements in inner strength.
+Evidence Rating Level: 1 (Excellent)
+Breast cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Iran and negatively impacts quality of life for patients. Prior studies have shown that psycho-oncological and psychotherapeutic interventions are effective in improving the psychosocial aspects of the disease for breast cancer patients. Currently, there is limited research about the effect of group religious-spiritual psychotherapy on breast cancer in Iran. As a result, the objective of the present randomized controlled trial was to evaluate the effect of religious psychotherapy on breast cancer perception and inner strength.
+The present trial included 45 hospitalized female breast cancer patients (ages 31-58). Patients were selected through convenience sampling at the chemotherapy and radiotherapy center and cancer specialist clinics in Bandar Abbas from October 2016-July 2017. Patients were excluded if they had comorbidity with other chronic or serious diseases or if they had metastasis of their cancer. Patients were randomized to either treatment (n=15), attention control (n=15), or untreated control (n=15) groups. The treatment group received 10, 90-minute sessions of religious-spiritual psychotherapy based on the Twelver Shia Sects of Islam (RSP-TSS), the attention control group received 10, 90-minute null matter sessions, and the control group received usual care. The Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) was used to determine the disease perception, while the Inner Strength Questionnaire (ISQ) was used to determine inner strength. All participants completed these instruments immediately after the intervention and at 4 months after the post-test. Statistical analyses were performed using MANOVA. The primary outcomes were patient illness perception and inner strength.
+Patients that received RSP-TSS showed significant improvements in both disease perception and inner strength compared with patients in the attention control and untreated control groups. These findings were maintained at the 4-month follow-up, indicating a sustained improvement in these coping measures. However, the use of convenience sampling was a limitation which may affect the generalizability of the study findings. Nonetheless, these results suggest that religious-spiritual interventions may have a role in improving quality of life and coping in breast cancer patients.
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