Die Studie

Die Studie

2015 hatten wir die tolle Gelegenheit mit Doktorandin Anna Richard, Psychologie, Universität Salzburg, Univ-Prof. Dr. med. Nadia Harbeck, Leiterin des Brustzentrums des Frauenklinik der LMU München, Dr. med. Rachel Würstlein, Oberärztin des Brustzentrums der Frauenklinik, LMU München und Univ.-Prof. Dr. Frank Wilhelm, Fachbereich Psychologie, Universität Salzburg an der ersten offiziellen Studie im Bezug auf Brustkrebspatientinnen und unseren Workshops, teilzunehmen.

Das Ergebnis ist beeindruckend und gibt uns offiziell die Bestätigung, dass wir etwas wirklich Sinnvolles mit unserem Verein machen.

Abstract

“Recover your smile” –
An evaluation of a short-term, psychosocial intervention in breast cancer patients
Anna Richard,2, Nadia Harbeck3, Rachel Würstlein3 & Frank H. Wilhelm1

Medical cancer treatment is often accompanied by appearance-related side effects such as hair loss, skin irritation, and paleness, which can subsequently lead to psychosocial distress. Initial evidence suggests that psychosocial interventions (e.g., beauty care) during the early stages of cancer may reduce distress, improve body image, and increase quality of life (QoL). Here, we investigated the relative effectiveness of a brief psychosocial intervention on such psychological outcomes in 37 breast cancer patients with appearance-related side effects during medical breast cancer treatment. Participants were randomly assigned to an immediate intervention group (IG) or wait-list control (WL). The intervention consisted of a group make-up workshop, photo shooting, and receiving professionally edited portrait and upper body photos. Results show that groups did not differ on any measure before treatment. Two and four weeks after treatment, however, IG reported higher QoL (M=96±23 [baseline], M=104±19 [two weeks], M=105±17 [four weeks]) and less depressive symptoms (M=18±11 [baseline], M=12±9 [two weeks], M=13±8 [four weeks]) as compared to baseline and compared to WL, respectively. Baseline-corrected effect sizes of between-group differences were d=.77 (QoL) and d=.72 (depression) at two weeks and d=.75 (QoL) and d=.41 (depression) at four weeks. Follow up at eight weeks indicated moderate stability of improvements. To our knowledge, this study represents the first investigation of the effectiveness of a beauty care intervention in the context of cancer in a randomized controlled trial. Results support the use of this type of brief, low-cost psychosocial intervention in women undergoing medical breast cancer treatment to improve their well-being.