Mindfulness among patients with advanced colorectal cancer

2014-12-01Objective: Advanced cancer is a life-limiting condition, but improvements in medical care are contributing to longer survival among some patients, including many with advanced colorectal cancer. Unfortunately, the advanced colorectal cancer experience is often marked by physical and emotional challenges that may be compounded by patients’ cancer-related intrusive thoughts and maladaptive coping patterns. The present study sought to investigate mindfulness as one factor that may demonstrate beneficial relations with physical and emotional outcomes both directly and indirectly through cancer-related intrusive thoughts and coping strategies. Additionally, possible sex differences in these relations were investigated. Methods: Questionnaire data were collected from 102 adults on active treatment for advanced colorectal cancer. Partial least squares modeling was used to test the hypothesized relations for the full sample as well as in men and women separately. Results: Patients reported moderate levels of emotional distress and physical symptoms, while mindfulness levels were higher than levels reported in other samples, possibly as a result of the patients’ advanced cancer status. Mindfulness was associated with positive outcomes in emotional and, to a lesser extent, physical domains, and intrusive thoughts explained some of the relations between these variables such that more mindfulness was associated with reduced intrusive thoughts which were associated with reduced physical symptoms in men and reduced emotional distress in men and women. Coping strategies did not account for a significant proportion of the relations between mindfulness and emotional distress or physical symptoms in either sex. In general, mindfulness demonstrated more robust relations among women. Conclusion: Mindful patients with advanced colorectal cancer may be at a reduced risk for emotional distress and physical symptoms with cancer-related intrusive thoughts partially accounting for these relations. These findings lend preliminary support for the use of mindfulness-enhancing interventions to improve the physical and emotional well-being of patients with advanced colorectal cancer