Mobile Mindfulness Meditation for Cancer-Related Anxiety and Neuropathy: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Anxiety and cancer-related neuropathy are common long-term effects of cancer treatment. Mindfulness meditation delivered through a mobile app may help manage these symptoms, especially for survivors with physical or geographic limitations. This paper describes an ongoing randomized waitlist-controlled trial evaluating the Mindfulness Coach app. Cancer survivors who completed primary treatment and experienced anxiety or neuropathy (200 per condition) were recruited. Data are collected at baseline, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks. The trial compares treatment and waitlist groups separately for each condition, assessing anxiety, neuropathy, pain, fatigue, trauma, sleep, and app satisfaction. Results are expected in early 2024. The approach aims to make mindfulness meditation accessible to more survivors.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Anxiety- and cancer-related neuropathy are two persistent effects related to treatment for cancer. Mindfulness meditation has been used with substantial impact as a nonpharmacologic intervention to mitigate side and late effects of treatment. Mobile apps are ubiquitous for most of the general population, yet have a particular relevance for cancer survivors, given that physical and geographic limitations can be present. This study aims to describe an ongoing trial of the Mindfulness Coach mobile app for cancer survivors. In this randomized waitlist controlled trial, cancer survivors experiencing anxiety- or cancer-related neuropathy (200 for neuropathy and 200 for anxiety) and who had finished primary cancer treatment were invited to participate. Data were collected at 3 time points regardless of randomization condition: baseline, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks. Both face-to-face and web-based recruitment strategies were used. The trial was opened for 2 separate primary outcomes (anxiety- or cancer-related neuropathy). The goal was not to compare these groups but to compare treatment and waitlist groups for each condition. In addition to evaluating the impact of mobile mindfulness on reported anxiety- or cancer-related neuropathy, other pain, fatigue, trauma, sleep, and satisfaction with the Mindfulness Coach app will also be assessed. Outcomes of the study are expected in early 2024. Mindfulness meditation has become widely practiced, and the use of mobile technology has become ubiquitous. Finding ways to deliver mindfulness meditation to people who have been treated for cancer allows for the intervention to be accessible to a larger number of survivors. The results of this intervention could have implications for further understanding the impact of mindfulness meditation on 2 persistent side and late effects of treatment of cancer, namely anxiety- and cancer-related neuropathy. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03581357; https://ClinicalTrials.gov/study/NCT03581357. DERR1-10.2196/47745.