Abstract
Treatment of cancer-related symptoms represents a major challenge for physicians. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether a brief bedside visual art intervention (BVAI) facilitated by art educators improves mood, reduces pain and anxiety in patients with haematological malignancies. Thirty-one patients (21 women and 10 men) were invited to participate in a BVAI where the goal of the session was to teach art technique for ~30 min. Primary outcome measures included the change in visual analog scale, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule scale, from baseline prior to and immediately post-BVAI. Total of 21 patients (19 women and two men) participated. A significant improvement in positive mood and pain scores (p =.003 and p =.017 respectively) as well as a decrease in negative mood and anxiety (p =.016 and p =.001 respectively) was observed. Patients perceived BVAI as overall positive (95%) and wished to participate in future art-based interventions (85%). This accessible experience, provided by artists within the community, may be considered as an adjunct to conventional treatments in patients with cancer-related mood symptoms and pain, and future studies with balanced gender participation may support the generalisability of these findings.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | e12852 |
Journal | European Journal of Cancer Care |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2018 |
Keywords
- art intervention
- complementary medicine
- haematologic cancer
- integrative medicine
- oncology
- pain management
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology