Objective Psychological distress in cancer is associated with poorer quality of life, poorer treatment adherence and outcomes, and higher healthcare costs. The current study aimed to provide evidence on the effectiveness of the Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) technique in female patients with breast cancer at Goa medical College. Methods It was a Randomised Controlled Trial. The study was conducted in the Surgery Wards at Goa medical College. Women with a diagnosis of breast cancer who have undergone surgery as their primary mode of treatment are included in the study. The intervention entailed a 20-minute PMR session, which started with Deep Breathing and Guided Imagery (GI) sessions given to one group. Both groups were evaluated for anxiety, depression, and fatigue levels using the Zung Anxiety Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Fatigue Scale at baseline and after the two-week intervention. Results Fifty-eight people completed the study. The participants in both groups had similar sociodemographic characteristics and clinical profiles. After two weeks of intervention, the intervention group showed significant reductions in anxiety (51.71 +- 2.89 to 38.52 +- 6.32, p ≤ 0.001), depression (11.48 +- 2.93 to 6.16 +- 2.98, p ≤ 0.001), and fatigue (23.29 +- 4.12 to 16.88 +- 4.73, p ≤ 0.001). Conclusions This study highlights the effectiveness of Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) and Guided Imagery (GI) in reducing anxiety, depression, and fatigue in breast cancer patients, helping manage emotional distress and prevent symptom progression during treatment. Trial registration number and date CTRI (Clinical Trial Registry of India) Registration was done in February 2021 from the Clinical Trial Registry of India, with Reg. number CTRI/2021/02/030996. Keywords Breast cancer, Progressive Muscle Relaxation, anxiety, depression, fatigue, Psycho-oncology, Guided Imagery, Breathing Exercises, Anxiety Scale, Depression scale.
Jose et al. (Thu,) studied this question.