Impact of loving-kindness meditation intervention vs. music intervention during biopsy on adherence to recommended breast cancer screening.
Breast cancer research and treatment July 1, 2025 Nicole A Arrato, Mary Scott Soo, Anava A Wren et al. 1 citation
Providing a loving-kindness meditation (LKM) intervention during core-needle breast biopsy (CNBB) significantly improved women's adherence to recommended breast imaging over the following 18 months. Among 120 women randomly assigned to LKM, music, or usual care during biopsy, adherence was 90% for the LKM group, compared to 71% for music and 69% for usual care. Women in the LKM group were 3.9 times more likely to adhere than those receiving usual care, and 3.5 times more likely than those in the music group. Music did not significantly improve adherence over usual care. The positive effect of LKM held regardless of whether biopsy results were abnormal or benign. Offering LKM during CNBB is a simple, scalable approach that may boost long-term screening compliance.