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A cognitive–existential intervention to improve existential and global quality of life in cancer patients: A pilot study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2014

Pierre Gagnon ,
Lise Fillion ,
Marie-Anik Robitaille ,
Michèle Girard ,
François Tardif ,
Jean-Philippe Cochrane ,
Joanie Le Moignan Moreau  and
William Breitbart
Pierre Gagnon*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Pharmacy, Laval University, Québec City, Quebec, Canada Department of Psychiatry, CHU de Québec – L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Québec City, Quebec, Canada Équipe de recherche Michel-Sarrazin en Oncologie psychosociale et Soins palliatifs, Research Center, Oncology Division, CHU de Québec – L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Québec City, Quebec, Canada Laval University Cancer Research Center, Québec City, Quebec, Canada
Lise Fillion
Affiliation:
Équipe de recherche Michel-Sarrazin en Oncologie psychosociale et Soins palliatifs, Research Center, Oncology Division, CHU de Québec – L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Québec City, Quebec, Canada Laval University Cancer Research Center, Québec City, Quebec, Canada Faculty of Nursing, Laval University, Québec City, Quebec, Canada
Marie-Anik Robitaille
Affiliation:
Équipe de recherche Michel-Sarrazin en Oncologie psychosociale et Soins palliatifs, Research Center, Oncology Division, CHU de Québec – L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Québec City, Quebec, Canada Laval University Cancer Research Center, Québec City, Quebec, Canada
Michèle Girard
Affiliation:
Department of Palliative Care, CHU de Québec – L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Québec City, Quebec, Canada
François Tardif
Affiliation:
Équipe de recherche Michel-Sarrazin en Oncologie psychosociale et Soins palliatifs, Research Center, Oncology Division, CHU de Québec – L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Québec City, Quebec, Canada Laval University Cancer Research Center, Québec City, Quebec, Canada
Jean-Philippe Cochrane
Affiliation:
Équipe de recherche Michel-Sarrazin en Oncologie psychosociale et Soins palliatifs, Research Center, Oncology Division, CHU de Québec – L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Québec City, Quebec, Canada Laval University Cancer Research Center, Québec City, Quebec, Canada School of Psychology, Laval University, Québec city, Quebec, Canada
Joanie Le Moignan Moreau
Affiliation:
Équipe de recherche Michel-Sarrazin en Oncologie psychosociale et Soins palliatifs, Research Center, Oncology Division, CHU de Québec – L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, Québec City, Quebec, Canada Laval University Cancer Research Center, Québec City, Quebec, Canada
William Breitbart
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Pierre Gagnon, CHU de Québec – L'Hôtel-Dieu de Québec, 11 Côte du Palais, Quebec City, Province of Quebec, Canada, G1R 2J6. E-mail: pierre.gagnon@crhdq.ulaval.ca
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Abstract

Objective:

We developed a specific cognitive–existential intervention to improve existential distress in nonmetastatic cancer patients. The present study reports the feasibility of implementing and evaluating this intervention, which involved 12 weekly sessions in both individual and group formats, and explores the efficacy of the intervention on existential and global quality of life (QoL) measures.

Method:

Some 33 nonmetastatic cancer patients were randomized between the group intervention, the individual intervention, and the usual condition of care. Evaluation of the intervention on the existential and global QoL of patients was performed using the existential well-being subscale and the global scale of the McGill Quality of Life (MQoL) Questionnaire.

Results:

All participants agreed that their participation in the program helped them deal with their illness and their personal life. Some 88.9% of participants agreed that this program should be proposed for all cancer patients, and 94.5% agreed that this intervention helped them to reflect on the meaning of their life. At post-intervention, both existential and psychological QoL improved in the group intervention versus usual care (p = 0.086 and 0.077, respectively). At the three-month follow-up, global and psychological QoL improved in the individual intervention versus usual care (p = 0.056 and 0.047, respectively).

Significance of results:

This pilot study confirms the relevance of the intervention and the feasibility of the recruitment and randomization processes. The data strongly suggest a potential efficacy of the intervention for existential and global quality of life, which will have to be confirmed in a larger study.

Keywords

Cognitive–existential interventionExistentialQuality of lifeCancer
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , August 2015 , pp. 981 - 990
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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