TY - JOUR A1 - Zetzl, Teresa A1 - Schuler, Michael A1 - Renner, Agnes A1 - Jentschke, Elisabeth A1 - van Oorschot, Birgitt T1 - Yoga intervention and reminder e-mails for reducing cancer-related fatigue - a study protocol of a randomized controlled trial JF - BMC Psychology N2 - Background Almost 90% of cancer patients suffer from symptoms of fatigue during treatment. Supporting treatments are increasingly used to alleviate the burden of fatigue. This study examines the short-term and long-term effects of yoga on fatigue and the effect of weekly reminder e-mails on exercise frequency and fatigue symptoms. Methods The aim of the first part of the study will evaluate the effectiveness of yoga for cancer patients with mixed diagnoses reporting fatigue. We will randomly allocate 128 patients to an intervention group (N = 64) receiving yoga and a wait-list control group (N = 64) receiving yoga 9 weeks later. The yoga therapy will be performed in weekly sessions of 60 min each for 8 weeks. The primary outcome will be self-reported fatigue symptoms. In the second part of the study, the effectiveness of reminder e-mails with regard to the exercise frequency and self-reported fatigue symptoms will be evaluated. A randomized allocated group of the participants (“email”) receives weekly reminder e-mails, the other group does not. Data will be assessed using questionnaires the beginning and after yoga therapy as well as after 6  months. Discussion Support of patients suffering from fatigue is an important goal in cancer patients care. If yoga therapy will reduce fatigue, this type of therapy may be introduced into routine practice. If the reminder e-mails prove to be helpful, new offers for patients may also develop from this. KW - Cancer KW - Fatigue KW - Yoga KW - Reminder e-mails KW - Supportive therapy Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-202268 VL - 7 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zetzl, Teresa A1 - Renner, Agnes A1 - Pittig, Andre A1 - Jentschke, Elisabeth A1 - Roch, Carmen A1 - van Oorschot, Birgitt T1 - Yoga effectively reduces fatigue and symptoms of depression in patients with different types of cancer JF - Supportive Care in Cancer N2 - Purpose Examine the effects of an 8-week yoga therapy on fatigue in patients with different types of cancer. Methods A total of 173 cancer patients suffering from mild to severe fatigue were randomly allocated to yoga intervention (n = 84) (IG) versus waitlist control group (CG) (n = 88). Yoga therapy consisted of eight weekly sessions with 60 min each. The primary outcome was self-reported fatigue symptoms. Secondary outcomes were symptoms of depression and quality of life (QoL). Data were assessed using questionnaires before (T0) and after yoga therapy for IG versus waiting period for CG (T1). Results A stronger reduction of general fatigue (P = .033), physical fatigue (P = .048), and depression (P < .001) as well as a stronger increase in QoL (P = .002) was found for patients who attended 7 or 8 sessions compared with controls. Within the yoga group, both higher attendance rate and lower T0-fatigue were significant predictors of lower T1-fatigue (P ≤ .001). Exploratory results revealed that women with breast cancer report a higher reduction of fatigue than women with other types of cancer (P = .016) after yoga therapy. Conclusion The findings support the assumption that yoga therapy is useful to reduce cancer-related fatigue, especially for the physical aspects of fatigue. Women with breast cancer seem to benefit most, and higher attendance rate results in greater reduction of fatigue. Trial registration German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00016034 KW - yoga KW - complementary alternative medicine KW - mind-body intervention KW - fatigue KW - depression KW - quality of live Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-235415 SN - 0941-4355 VL - 29 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zetzl, Teresa A1 - Pittig, Andre A1 - Renner, Agnes A1 - van Oorschott, Birgitt A1 - Jentschke, Elisabeth T1 - Yoga therapy to reduce fatigue in cancer: effects of reminder e-mails and long-term efficacy JF - Supportive Care in Cancer N2 - Objective To examine the efficacy of reminder e-mails to continue yoga therapy on practice frequency and fatigue in cancer patients and long-term effects of yoga on fatigue, depression, and quality of life. Methology One hundred two cancer patients who completed an 8-week yoga therapy were randomly allocated to two groups: reminder (N = 51) vs. no-reminder group (N = 51). After completing yoga therapy, the reminder group received weekly e-mails for 24 weeks, which reminded them of practicing yoga, whereas the no-reminder group did not. Primary outcomes were fatigue and practice frequency, and long-term outcomes were fatigue, depression, and quality of life. Data were assessed using questionnaires after yoga therapy (T1) and 6 months after completing yoga therapy (T2). Result A significantly stronger reduction of general (p = 0.038, d = 0.42) and emotional fatigue (p = 0.004, d = 0.59) and a higher increase of practice frequency (p = 0.015, d = 0.52) between T1 and T2 were found for the reminder group compared to the no-reminder group. In the mediation model, practice frequency as a mediator partially explained the changes in emotional fatigue (indirect effect B =  - 0.10). Long-term effects of yoga therapy regarding fatigue, depression, and quality of life were found (F > 7.46, p < 0.001, d > 0.54). Conclusion Weekly reminder e-mails after yoga therapy can positively affect general and emotional fatigue and help cancer patients with fatigue establish a regular yoga practice at home. However, higher practice frequency did not lead to higher physical or cognitive fatigue improvement, suggesting other factors that mediate efficacy on physical or cognitive fatigue, such as mindfulness or side effects of therapy. KW - reminder e-mails KW - mind–body intervention KW - complementary alternative medicine KW - long-term effects KW - Yoga KW - fatigue Y1 - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-268415 SN - 1433-7339 VL - 29 IS - 12 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schlecht, Sina A1 - Neubert, Sven A1 - Meng, Karin A1 - Rabe, Antonia A1 - Jentschke, Elisabeth T1 - Changes of symptoms of anxiety, depression, and fatigue in cancer patients 3 months after a video-based intervention JF - International journal of environmental research and public health N2 - During the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing restricted psycho-oncological care. Therefore, this secondary analysis examines the changes in anxiety, fear of progression, fatigue, and depression in cancer patients after a video-based eHealth intervention. We used a prospective observational design with 155 cancer patients with mixed tumor entities. Data were assessed before and after the intervention and at a three-month follow-up using self-reported questionnaires (GAD-7, FOP-Q-SF, PHQ-8, and EORTC QLQ-FA12). The eight videos included psychoeducation, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy elements, and yoga and qigong exercises. The results showed that three months after finishing the video-based intervention, participants showed significantly reduced fear of progression (d = −0.23), depression (d = −0.27), and fatigue (d = −0.24) compared to the baseline. However, there was no change in anxiety (d = −0.09). Findings indicated marginal improvements in mental distress when using video-based intervention for cancer patients for up to three months, but long-term effectiveness must be confirmed using a controlled design. KW - cancer KW - psycho-oncology KW - eHealth KW - supportive care intervention KW - psychoeducation KW - mind–body intervention KW - distress Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-357294 VL - 20 IS - 20 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Neubert, Sven A1 - Schlecht, Sina A1 - Meng, Karin A1 - Rabe, Antonia A1 - Jentschke, Elisabeth T1 - Effects of a video sequence based intervention on anxiety, fatigue and depression in cancer patients: results of a randomized controlled trial JF - Integrative Cancer Therapies N2 - Background: Cancer patients often suffer from psychological symptoms and need psychological support. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, eHealth interventions might be helpful to overcome the obstacles of the pandemic. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a video sequence-based eHealth intervention on anxiety, fatigue, and depression in cancer patients. Methods: Patients (N = 157) with different tumor entities were randomly assigned to the video intervention group (IG) and the waiting control group (CG). Patients in the IG received a video intervention comprising 8 video sequences over 4 weeks. The videos included psychoeducation on distress and psychological symptoms, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy elements, and Yoga and Qigong exercises. Patients’ anxiety and fear of progression (primary outcomes) and secondary outcomes were assessed before randomization (T1) and after the end of the intervention for IG or the waiting period for CG (T2) using self-reported questionnaires (GAD-7, PA-F-KF, EORTC QLQ-FA12, PHQ-8). Results: Patients of the IG showed no significant improvement in anxiety (GAD-7; P = .75), fear of progression (FoP-Q-SF; P = .29), fatigue (EORTC QLQ-FA12; P = .72), and depression (PHQ-8; P = .95) compared to patients in the waiting CG. However, symptoms of anxiety, fatigue, and depression decreased in both groups. Exploratory subgroup analysis regarding sex, therapy status, therapy goal, and tumor entity showed no effects. Overall, the intervention had a high level of acceptance. Conclusions: The video intervention was ineffective in reducing the psychological burden compared to a waiting CG. The findings support prior observations of the value of therapeutic guidance and promoting self-management for improving patients’ psychological burdens. Further studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of psycho-oncological eHealth delivered through video sequences. KW - eHealth KW - psycho-oncology KW - complementary medicine KW - psychoeducation KW - mind-body-intervention KW - anxiety KW - depression KW - fatigue KW - oncology Y1 - 2023 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-304581 SN - 1552-695X VL - 22 ER -