This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with the aim of determining the cultural sensitivity, feasibility, and effectiveness of an expressive writing intervention for Chinese breast cancer survivors.
The study examines the potential health benefits (i.e., physical health, psychological health, and quality of life) of this expressive writing intervention for Chinese-speaking breast cancer survivors. The study also explores the mechanism through which expressive writing confers health benefits and investigates who will benefit most from the expressive writing intervention. Chinese-speaking breast cancer survivors who have completed primary treatment will be randomly assigned to a control writing condition, a self-regulation condition, or an emotional disclosure writing condition. Health outcomes are assessed at baseline, and 1, 3, and 6 months follow-ups. Mixed qualitative-quantitative mixed methods are used to explore the effect of the intervention on health outcomes and explore the mechanisms that explain the benefits of this intervention.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
96
Herald Cancer Association
Los Angeles, California, United States
University of Houston
Houston, Texas, United States
Change in quality of life score as assessed by Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale (FACT).
The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale (FACT) is a 27-item measure of health-related quality of life (Cella \& Tulsky,1993), which assesses perceived life quality in four different facets, including physical well-being (7 items), social well-being (7 items), emotional well-being (6 items), and functional wellbeing (7 items).
Time frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months follow-ups after the intervention.
Change in Post-traumatic stress symptoms assessed by The PTSD Symptom Scale - Self Report
The scale contains 17 items reflecting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition -Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (Foa, Riggs, Dancu, \& Rothbaum, 1993).
Time frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months follow-ups after the intervention.
Change in fatigue as assessed by Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue Scale (FACIT-F)
The FACIT-F scale is a short, 13-item, easy to administer tool that measures an individual's level of fatigue during their usual daily activities over the past week (Webster et al., 2003).
Time frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months follow-ups after the intervention.
Change in perceived pain assessed by Brief Pain Inventory short form.
The Brief Pain Inventory-short form is a 9-item inventory which assesses the severity of pain and its impact on functioning (Cleeland, 1991).
Time frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months follow-ups after the intervention.
Change in sleep quality assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is an effective instrument used to measure the quality and patterns of sleep in adults (Buysse, Reynolds, Monk, Berman, \& Kupfer, 1989).
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Time frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months follow-ups after the intervention.
Change in physical symptoms as assessed by the Physical Symptoms Checklist
The 10-item symptom questionnaire was used to assess the number of days during the last 30 days which participants had felt symptoms of acute illness such as runny nose, difficulty in breathing and soreness during the past month not due to intentional physical exercise.This measure was modified from Pennebaker (1982) and King and Emmons (1990).
Time frame: Baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months follow-ups after the intervention.