Effects of relaxation breathing exercise on fatigue and cortisol level among Indonesian gynecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: a pilot study†

Variables	Intervention (n = 17)		Control (n = 16)		P-value
Variables	n	%	n	%	P-value
Age in years (mean, SD)	47.06	8.45	45.31	9.81	0.587
Educational level					1.000
High	10	30.30	10	30.30
Low	7	21.20	6	18.20
Cancer type					0.656
Ovarian	4	12.10	2	6.10
Cervical	13	39.40	14	42.40
Cancer stage					0.296
Early	8	24.20	11	33.30
Advanced	9	27.30	5	15.20
Chemo cycle					1.000
≤3	12	36.40	12	36.40
>3	5	15.10	4	12.10
Regimen					1.000
Platinum	15	45.50	15	45.50
Non-platinum	2	6.00	1	3.00
PFS Score day 1 (mean, SD)	4.29	1.75	3.54	1.68	0.220
HADS day 1 (mean, SD)	1.37	0.29	1.42	0.38	0.622

1 Note: Statistically significant at α ≤ 0.05 with independent t-test and Fisher Exact Test; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; PFS, Piper Fatigue Scale; SD, Standard Deviation.

Table 2.

Comparison of median cortisol level within and between the 2 groups (n = 33).

Variable	Intervention (n = 17)		Control (n = 16)		P-valuea
Variable	Median (IQR1-IQR3)	Min–Max	Median (IQR1-IQR3)	Min–Max	P-valuea
Cortisol level
Day 1	0.38 (0.31–0.64)	0.25–0.88	0.51 (0.38–0.70)	0.20–2.35	0.15
Day 8	2.97 (1.26–5.18)	0.39–6.91	2.30 (0.99–9.09)	0.43–23.38	0.83
P-value^b	0.0003*		0.001*

1 Note:

1a Statistically significant at

1* α ≤ 0.05 with Mann-Whitney U;

1b Statistically significant at α ≤ 0.05 with Wilcoxon signed ranks test.

Table 3.

Difference in PFS and HADS mean scores within the 2 groups (n = 33).

Variables/groups	Time			P-value	Effect size (ES)
Variables/groups	Day 1 (pretest)	Day 4	Day 8 (posttest)	P-value	Effect size (ES)
PFS Score (mean, SD)
Intervention (n = 17)	4.29 ± 1.75	5.03 ± 1.99	3.52 ± 1.52	0.012*	0.443
Control (n = 16)	3.54 ± 1.68	4.65 ± 2.01	3.57 ± 1.90	0.152	-
HADS Score (mean, SD)
Intervention (n = 17)	1.37 ± 0.29	1.34 ± 0.25	1.28 ± 0.36	0.767	-
Control (n = 16)	1.42 ± 0.38	1.42 ± 0.35	1.46 ± 0.35	0.793	-

1 Note: Statistically significant at

1* α ≤ 0.05 with one-way repeated measures ANOVA test; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; PFS, Piper Fatigue Scale.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/fon-2024-0022 | Journal eISSN: 2544-8994 | Journal ISSN: 2097-5368

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Language: English

Page range: 201 - 208

Submitted on: Jan 20, 2024

Accepted on: Mar 23, 2024

Published on: Jun 26, 2024

Published by: Shanxi Medical Periodical Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

anxiety,

cortisol,

fatigue,

gynecological cancer,

relaxation breathing exercise

Related subjects:

Medicine,

Assistive professions, nursing

© 2024 Mulhaeriah Mulhaeriah, Mohammad Syafar Sangkala, Syahrul Syahrul, Rezki Wahyuni, published by Shanxi Medical Periodical Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 11 (2024): Issue 2 (June 2024)

Effects of relaxation breathing exercise on fatigue and cortisol level among Indonesian gynecological cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: a pilot study†

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