African-Americans, Caucasians report less fatigue after group-based mind-body intervention
MONDAY, Oct. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Breast cancer survivors experience significant improvements in fatigue levels after a group-based, holistic intervention, regardless of race, according to research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 in Miami.
Susan E. Appling, of the Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, and colleagues evaluated fatigue levels via a before/after questionnaire in 206 breast cancer survivors to determine the effectiveness of a group-based, mind-body holistic medicine program in African-American and Caucasian women.
The researchers found that the 52 African-American respondents indicated higher fatigue levels than Caucasians, both at baseline and at the three follow-up time points, although the differences were not statistically significant. Both groups did, however, experience an improvement in fatigue levels that was maintained at two and six months' follow-up.
"In our group of breast cancer survivors, race did not play a role in fatigue improvement," Appling said in a statement. "Overall, women with the common symptom of persistent fatigue benefited equally from this group-based holistic program."
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