Dance/ Movement-based psychotherapy program: its effect and impact on reducing radiotherapy-related symptoms and improving the quality of life in Chinese breast cancer patients

Malignant neoplasm was the number one cause of death in Hong Kong in 2010. On average, approximately 5000 females in Hong Kong die from cancer in every year and breast cancer is the leading cancer in Hong Kong women. Although the survival rate of breast cancer is high, breast cancer treatment may be physically and psychologically stressful for patients. Most of the breast cancer patients receive radiotherapy treatment after their surgery or chemotherapy. The likely side effects of radiotherapy include: fatigue, pain and sleep disturbance. Many patients undergoing radiotherapy have some degree of distress, worry and depressed mood. The presented study aimed at establishing the efficacy of dance/movement-based psychotherapy which emphasizes both physiological and psychological aspects of breast cancer patients in managing the radiotherapy-related symptom clusters and quality of life. This study adopted the randomized control trial with waitlist control design. Chinese breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy were recruited from local hospitals and randomized into the 6-session dance/movement-based psychotherapy program or waitlist control group. The program emphasized physiological aspects (such as movement targeted on relieving a participant’s arm edema) and psychological aspects (such as movement that encouraged participants to explore their personal space). Participants were invited to complete a set of self-report questionnaires before and after the program. Findings showed that physiological states (fatigue level) and psychological status (depressive mood) significantly improved among Chinese breast cancer patients who joined the dance/movement-based psychotherapy program. The encouraging results not only supported that dance/movement-based psychotherapy was an effective program on reducing radiotherapy-related symptoms among Chinese breast cancer patients, but also informed better practice in patient care services. Patients benefited by participating in the psychotherapy program during their cancer treatment.