Mindfulness Meditation in Bone Marrow Transplantation
Patients will be assigned to one of three study groups:
1. receives the normal standard care;
2. meets with an oncology nurse educator, in addition to the regular nurses on the
transplant team. The nurse educator will provide information and answers to patient's
questions about the stem cell/bone marrow transplant experience; or
3. is taught mindfulness meditation by a nurse who is trained to be a mindfulness
instructor and by an audio CD.
Mindfulness meditation is a technique that may help in coping with the stress and
difficulties associated with cancer and undergoing a stem cell/bone marrow transplant. It
involves learning to be in the present moment by paying attention to your breathing, sights,
and sounds, and to sensations you may be experiencing, or thoughts and feelings you may be
having.
Mindfulness meditation has been shown to be helpful to patients in the clinic who have
cancer and other medical conditions.
Patients, regardless of random group assignment, will complete a questionnaire 8 different
times, from before they are admitted to the hospital until 6 months after discharge.
Patients will also provide two urine samples while in the hospital to measure the levels of
stress hormones present in the urine.
Interventional
Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label
Psychological functioning
1 year
No
Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD
Principal Investigator
Emory University
United States: Institutional Review Board
05-070
NCT00165282
April 2005
June 2011
Name | Location |
---|---|
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute | Boston, Massachusetts 02115 |
Emory University | Atlanta, Georgia 30322 |
University of Massachusetts Medical School | Worcester, Massachusetts 01605 |