Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2024

A Randomised Controlled Trial: Evaluating Whether a Cognitive-Behavioural Internet-Delivered Intervention Targeting Emotion Regulation Improves Health-Related Quality of Life in Cancer Survivors (#270)

Rebecca Wallace 1 , Isabelle Smith 1 , Daphne Day 2 , Marliese Alexander 3 , Karen Weihs 4 , Joshua Wiley 1
  1. Turner Institute for Brain & Mental Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  2. Monash Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  3. Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. The University of Arizona, Tuscon, Arizona, United States of America

Aims. Cancer survivors experience reduced overall Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) compared to the general population. This research assesses and compares the efficacy of an emotion focused (CanCopeMind) and lifestyle (CanCopeLifestyle) intervention to improve HRQoL among adults with a recent history of cancer of any type who finished planned primary cancer treatment (i.e., chemotherapy, radiation, surgery) ≤2 years prior.

Methods. This eight-week, internet-delivered, randomised controlled trial compared CanCopeMind (n = 110) and CanCopeLifestyle (n = 114) on self-reported HRQoL (range: -0.022 = indicating a state akin to "Dead" to 1.0 representing "Perfect Health”) at baseline, post-intervention, and three-months follow-up. CanCopeMind, adapted from the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders, targeted core emotion regulation skills (understanding emotions, mindfulness, flexible thinking, changing behaviours). CanCopeLifestyle, the active control, targeted healthy lifestyle domains (diet, exercise, relaxation, sleep).

Results. HRQoL increased in both groups from baseline to post-intervention (CanCopeMind: p < .001, SMDmedian = 0.54; CanCopeLifestyle: p < .001, SMDmedian = 0.40), and these improvements were sustained at follow-up (CanCopeMind: p < .001, SMDmedian = 0.52; CanCopeLifestyle: p = .005, SMDmedian = 0.33). The difference between each group was not significant at either post-intervention (p = .095, SMDmedian = 0.19) nor follow-up (p = .081, SMDmedian = 0.23). Subgroup analyses revealed no moderation by cancer stage, treatment type, months since treatment, cancer type, nor sex.

Conclusions. Findings indicate that an accessible, internet-delivered emotion-focused and lifestyle interventions hold promise for improving HRQoL among cancer survivors.