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Introduction: About one‐third of cancer survivors suffer from severe chronic fatigue. Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of mindfulness‐based cognitive group therapy in reducing severe chronic fatigue in cancer survivors with mixed diagnoses.Patients and Methods: Participants (n = 100) were randomly selected from a cohort and allocated to an intervention and a waiting list condition. Analyses were based on 59 participants in the intervention condition and 24 in the waiting‐list condition. Fatigue severity (Checklist Individual Strength), functional impairment (Sickness Impact Profile) and well being (Health and Disease‐Inventory) were assessed before and after the 9‐week intervention. The intervention group had a follow‐up 6 months following the intervention.
Results: At post‐treatment measurement the proportion of clinically improved participants was 30%, versus 4% in the waiting list condition (χ2 (1) = 6.71; p = 0.007). The mean fatigue score at post‐measurement was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the waiting list group corrected for pre‐treatment level of fatigue. The mean well‐being score at post‐measurement was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the waiting list group corrected for pre‐treatment level of well‐being. The treatment effect was maintained at 6‐month follow‐up. No difference between the two conditions was found in functional impairment.
Most validation studies of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) involved healthy subjects. Validation in patients who suffer from a life-threatening medical illness is needed, to investigate the FMI’s validity in medical psychology research and practice. Psychometric properties of the Dutch FMI were examined in two patient groups of two different studies: (Sample 1) cardiac patients (n = 114, M age = 56 ± 7 years, 18% women) and (Sample 2) severely fatigued cancer survivors (n = 158, M age = 50 ± 10 years, 77% women). Confirmatory factor analysis (studied only in Sample 2) provided good fit for the two-factor solution (Acceptance and Presence), while the one-factor solution provided suboptimal fit indices. Internal consistency was good for the whole scale in both samples (Sample 1 α = .827 and Sample 2 α = .851). The two-factor model showed acceptable to good internal consistency in Sample 2 (Presence: α = .823; Acceptance α = .744), but poor to acceptable in Sample 1 (Presence subscale: α = .577, Acceptance subscale: α = .791). Clinical sensitivity was supported in both samples, and construct validity (studied only in Sample 1) was acceptable. The Dutch FMI is an acceptable instrument to measure mindfulness in patients who experienced a life-threatening illness in a Dutch-speaking population.
Most validation studies of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) involved healthy subjects. Validation in patients who suffer from a life-threatening medical illness is needed, to investigate the FMI’s validity in medical psychology research and practice. Psychometric properties of the Dutch FMI were examined in two patient groups of two different studies: (Sample 1) cardiac patients (n = 114, M age = 56 ± 7 years, 18% women) and (Sample 2) severely fatigued cancer survivors (n = 158, M age = 50 ± 10 years, 77% women). Confirmatory factor analysis (studied only in Sample 2) provided good fit for the two-factor solution (Acceptance and Presence), while the one-factor solution provided suboptimal fit indices. Internal consistency was good for the whole scale in both samples (Sample 1 α = .827 and Sample 2 α = .851). The two-factor model showed acceptable to good internal consistency in Sample 2 (Presence: α = .823; Acceptance α = .744), but poor to acceptable in Sample 1 (Presence subscale: α = .577, Acceptance subscale: α = .791). Clinical sensitivity was supported in both samples, and construct validity (studied only in Sample 1) was acceptable. The Dutch FMI is an acceptable instrument to measure mindfulness in patients who experienced a life-threatening illness in a Dutch-speaking population.