Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Disease Perception, Body Image and Fear of Cancer Recurrence in Women with Breast Cancer

Background: One of the treatment methods that can improve the psychological symptoms of people with cancer is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Objectives: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of CBT on disease perception, body image and fear of cancer recurrence in women with breast cancer. Methods: The present study was an applied and quantitative research. In terms of method, this research was completely experimental and had a pre-test-post-test design with an experimental group and a control group, which was followed up for six months. The statistical population of the present study included all women with breast cancer referred to the oncology department of Omid Hospital in Isfahan. Thirty people were selected by simple random method and were assigned to the experimental group (15 people) and the control group (15 people). For data analysis, mixed variance analysis with repeated measurements was used by SPSS-ver. 22 software. Research tools included Broadbent Illness Perception, Multidimensional Body-Self Relations and Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory questionnaires. Results: The results of the study based on the statistical test of covariance analysis showed that CBT was significant on disease perception, body image and fear of disease recurrence in women with breast cancer (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that cognitive-behavioral therapy can be useful in the management of breast cancer in women. Therefore, it is suggested that this treatment method be used intermittently for the management of breast cancer by the patients themselves.