JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

There are a lot of symptoms experience many survivors and their relationship with psychological problems requires psychological intervention, one of which is popular is mindfulness. The increase in Internet access has exploded in the last decade, and has encouraged remote-based interventions to help people living with cancer to access the treatment remotely using devices.

Objective:

The primary aim of this study was to explore the efficacy of Internet-based mindfulness interventions on physical symptoms in people living with cancer as define as the people experience of distressing somatic symptoms (eg. fatigue, insomnia, pain), regardless of the cause. The secondary aim was to investigate interventions for Quality of Life (QoL).

Methods:

This study followed the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA). This study was systematically searched using electronic databases, namely Scopus, Medline through PubMed, CINAHL through EBSCOhost, and the Cochrane Central Database. Randomized controlled and pilot trials involving adults and/or older adults with cancer and using remote-based mindfulness interventions compared to usual care were included. The study were assessed on The quality of this randomized controlled trial was assessed using the revised Cochrane risk of bias (RoB) 2.0 tool. This study estimated the standardized Mean Difference (SMD) and mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI). The I-square (I2) test was used to identify potential causes of heterogeneity. Publication bias was assessed using contour-enhanced funnel plots and Egger's linear regression test to reveal the small study effect.

Results:

The study revealed Thirteen studies from 1986 were included in the initial search. This study found that remote-based mindfulness significantly reduced fatigue (SMD -0.94; 95%CI: -1.56, 0.33; P= 0.002), sleep disturbance (SMD -0.36; 95%CI: -0.60, 0.12; P= 0.004), and improved physical function (SMD 0.25; 95%CI: 0.09, 0.41; P= 0.002). Compared with usual care, remote-based mindfulness was only statistically significant in reducing sleep disturbance (SMD -0.37; 95%CI: -0.58, -0.16; P= 0.0006). Moreover, remote-based mindfulness was not statistically significant in reducing pain, both within and between groups.

Conclusions:

Remote-based mindfulness shows promise in reducing sleep disturbance; however, its impact on fatigue, pain, and physical function may be limited.