Abstract
Inpatient treatment of hematological cancer is among the most physically and mentally arduous cancer treatments, and it is associated with a number of common physical, emotional, and social symptoms that can negatively affect quality of life (QOL) for years following treatment. While treating symptoms during hospitalization holds promise for improving long-term QOL, successful approaches likely require multidisciplinary interventions. In this article, we describe a 4-year effort in program enhancement that incorporated an adjunctive single yoga therapy session during treatment for hematological malignancies. Methods: Hospitalized patients receiving treatment for hematological cancer (N = 486) were provided a 40-minute individualized yoga therapy session. We evaluated feasibility and acceptance by quantifying the percentage of patients who discontinued the yoga session due to pain, discomfort, or another reason, and by comparing the intervention population to the demographic makeup of the unit more generally. Patient-reported symptoms were obtained before and after each session, and we evaluated acute symptom change for the entire sample and in subsamples that are less likely to use mindfulness-based interventions such as yoga. Results: The majority of sessions (87%) were completed, and the majority of unfinished sessions were interrupted by a medical procedure or because the patient fell asleep. No session was stopped early due to patients’ reported pain. Significant decreases were reported in all symptoms, with the greatest decrease in fatigue and anxiety. Conclusions: Yoga therapy was a feasible and effective nondrug adjunct intervention for hospitalized patients receiving treatment for hematological cancer, including bone marrow transplantation.
Keywords: Anxiety, cancer, cancerfatigue, hematological cancer, oncology, psychologicalhealth, stem cell transplantation, symptom management, yoga.
References
Howlader N, Noone AM, Krapcho M, et al. SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2013. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute; 2016. https://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2013/.
Accessed June 18, 2019.
Bevans M, El-Jawahri A, Tierney DK, et al. National Institutes of Health hematopoietic cell transplantation late effects ini- tiative: the patient-centered outcomes working group report. Biol Blood Bone Marrow Transplant. 2017;23:538-551.
Syrjala K, Langer S, Abrams J, Storer B, Martin P. Late effects of hematopoietic cell transplantation among 10-year adult survivors compared with case-matched controls. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23:6596-6606.
Lee SJ, Loberiza FR, Antin JH, et al. Routine screening for psychosocial distress following hematopoietic stem cell trans- plantation. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2005;35:77-83.
Syrjala KL, Langer SL, Abrams JR, et al. Recovery and long- term function after hematopoietic cell transplantation for leu- kemia or lymphoma. JAMA. 2004;291:2335-2343.
Syrjala KL, Martin PJ, Lee SJ. Delivering care to long-term adult survivors of hematopoietic cell transplantation. J Clin Oncol. 2012;30:3746-3751.
Rusiewicz A, DuHamel KN, Burkhalter J, et al. Psychological distress in long-term survivors of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Psychooncology. 2008;17:329-337.
Myers RM, Hill BT, Shaw BE, et al. Long-term outcomes among 2-year survivors of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation for Hodgkin and diffuse large B-cell lym- phoma. Cancer. 2018;124:816-825.
Copelan EA. Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. N Engl J Med. 2006;354:1813-1826.
Andorsky DJ, Loberiza FR, Lee SJ. Pre-transplantation physical and mental functioning is strongly associated with self-reported recovery from stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2006;37:889-895.