Relaxation therapy as an adjunct in radiation oncology

Stress, anxiety, and depression in patients who are undergoing treatment of cancer significantly compromise the quality of their lives. The impact of stress reduction by relaxation training and imagery was studied in 82 out-patients who were undergoing curative (73 patients) or palliative (9 patients) radiotherapy. Fifty-two females and 30 males were assigned randomly to a relaxation training condition (34 patients) as an adjunct to radiation or a control condition (29 patients), which entailed education and counseling along with the RT. Using pre- and posttests of the Profile of Mood States, significant (p less than .01) reductions were noted in the treatment group in tension, depression, anger, and fatigue. The results suggest that relaxation training substantially improves several psychological parameters associated with quality of life in ambulatory patients who are undergoing radiation therapy.