Comparison of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) On the Severity of Fatigue, Improvement of Sleep Quality and Resilience in a Patient with Prostate Cancer: A Single-Case Experimental Study

Abstract

Introduction: Fatigue, loss of sleep quality and resiliency are considered as some of the complications of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in metastatic prostate cancer. Third-wave therapies of psychology mainly help to increase well-being through expanded resilience. The present study aimed to comparing the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) with acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on severity of fatigue, sleep quality and the resiliency in a patient with prostate cancer. Case Presentation: A 64-year-old man with localized prostate carcinoma was selected among respondent-driven sampling (RDS). He was treated with methadone after radical prostatectomy and was receiving the treatment for androgen deprivation therapy. After two 3-week baselines he received MBCT and ACT for three weeks. This A1B1C1A2B2C2 reversed design was along with a multiple baseline and a 6-month follow-up (during February to September 2015). The data were analyzed by means of a generalized estimation equation (GEE) and repeated measures correlation (rmcorr). The primary outcomes showed that both MBCT and ACT were effective on fatigue severity, sleep quality and resiliency (P < 0.01). There was no difference between the two treatments (P = 0.084) and the changes did not persist until follow-up stage (P > 0.01). Secondary outcomes showed that there is an inverse relationship between the severity of fatigue, sleep quality and the resiliency (P < 0.01). Conclusions: The findings of this study, consistent with the research background, suggested the effectiveness of third wave interventions in the improvement of psychological indices in patients with cancer.