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Meditation for the reduction of perioperative anxiety in patients undergoing oncology surgery: A scoping review.

Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing
August 1, 2024
Jennifer R Majumdar et al. (5 authors)
Journal ArticleScoping ReviewHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of meditation in reducing anxiety during the perioperative period for patients undergoing oncology surgery.

Results Summary

The review found that guided, mindfulness, and loving-kindness meditation may help reduce anxiety, particularly in breast cancer surgery patients postoperatively, but the literature is limited and more research is needed.

Population

Patients undergoing surgery for oncology diagnoses, with a focus on breast cancer patients.

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (2)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
meditation
decrease
anxiety
patients undergoing oncology surgery
-
may be helpful in reducing
#1
guided, mindfulness, and loving-kindness meditation
decrease
anxiety
patients undergoing surgery for breast cancer during the postoperative period
-
may be helpful in reducing
#2
Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Patients undergoing surgery, particularly patients undergoing surgery for oncology diagnoses, experience anxiety. Surgery remains the primary treatment for many common types of cancer. One promising potential intervention to alleviate anxiety in the preoperative and postoperative period is meditation, an integrative medicine intervention. However, there remains a gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of meditation to alleviate anxiety during the perioperative time period. METHODS: The scoping review was conducted using the Arksey and O'Malley framework to synthesize the study findings and was reported with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The review included EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL Plus, Scopus, and Cochrane Review databases from 2013 through 2024. All identified articles were exported to the online systematic review software, Covidence. RESULTS: A total of 538 initial citations were identified, 415 titles and abstracts were screened, and 83 full-text articles reviewed. Six studies were finally included. The data extracted from the literature included: study purpose, study design, sample size, preoperative or postoperative timeframe, instrument to evaluate anxiety, and conclusions. CONCLUSIONS: For patients undergoing oncology surgery, the perioperative period can be filled with anxiety. Guided, mindfulness, and loving-kindness meditation may be helpful in reducing anxiety, particularly in patients undergoing surgery for breast cancer during the postoperative period. However, the current literature is extremely limited. Future research should expand on the preliminary effectiveness to broader populations and carefully target the highest-risk populations for the ideal time point for interventions.

Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy65/10
Quality75/10
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.05
Weight Score2.34
Normalized Score0.61
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