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Mind-body medicine use by women diagnosed with breast cancer: results of a nationally representative survey

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Abstract

Purpose

Worldwide breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and often associated with a profound physiological stress reaction. Mind-body medicine modalities have been proven effective in reducing stress symptoms. This article will cover the prevalence of MBM use in women with and without breast cancer in the US population and detect predictors of MBM use in women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Methods

The 2017 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) was used to study the prevalence of breast cancer and the use of mind-body medicine (MBM) among individuals with breast cancer in the US population. Using chi-squared tests and backward stepwise multiple logistic regression analyses, predictors of MBM use in women with breast cancer in the past 12 months were identified.

Results

The prevalence of breast cancer in women was 3.1%. Among women diagnosed with breast cancer, 25.2% had used MBM in the past 12 months. Spiritual meditation (14.3%), followed by yoga (9.6%), and mindfulness meditation (4.3%) were the most commonly used MBM approaches for women with breast cancer diagnosis. Only higher education independently predicted the use of MBM among them.

Conclusions

In this nationally representative sample of the USA, the most common used MBM approach was spiritual meditation, while this approach is much less researched than the evidence based approaches of yoga and mindfulness meditation. Especially stressed individuals worldwide could benefit from MBM the literature suggests. Particularly in the acute survivorship stage, influencing the initial stress reaction could be beneficial.

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Funding

The authors Petra Voiß and Melanie Désirée Höxtermann were supported by a Grant from the Karl and Veronica Carstens Foundation, Essen, Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Faculty of Medicine, University of Duisburg-Essen, Am Deimelsberg 34a, 45276, Essen, Germany

    Petra Voiß, Melanie Désirée Höxtermann, Gustav Dobos & Holger Cramer

  2. Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Holger Cramer

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  1. Petra Voiß
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  2. Melanie Désirée Höxtermann
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  3. Gustav Dobos
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Correspondence to Melanie Désirée Höxtermann.

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Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

NCHS Research Ethics Review Board approved NHIS data collection. The protocol was approved by the NCHS ERB on June 12, 2015 (Protocol #2015-08).

Disclaimer

The Karl and Veronica Carstens Foundation had no influence on the design and conduct of the study; the collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; the preparation, review or approval of the manuscript; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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Voiß, P., Höxtermann, M.D., Dobos, G. et al. Mind-body medicine use by women diagnosed with breast cancer: results of a nationally representative survey. Support Care Cancer 28, 1077–1082 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04914-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04914-x

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