Art therapy during radiotherapy – A five-year follow-up study with women diagnosed with breast cancer

• Published in: The Arts in psychotherapy 2014-02, Vol.41 (1), p.36-40
• Main Authors: Öster, Inger, Tavelin, Björn, Egberg Thyme, Karin, Magnusson, Eva, Isaksson, Ulf, Lindh, Jack, Åström, Sture
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Art therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Breast cancer; Coping; Follow-up; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Mammary gland diseases; Medical sciences; Multiple tumors. Solid tumors. Tumors in childhood (general aspects); Nursing science; Quality of life; Tumors; Vårdvetenskap
• ISSN: 0197-4556; 1873-5878; 1873-5878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aip.2013.10.003

•We present a five-year follow-up study on art therapy with women with breast cancer.•We describe changes in coping and quality of life.•We found no long-term effects of the art therapy intervention on coping and quality of life after five years. Follow-up studies on art therapy are lacking. In a randomised art therapy intervention study from 2001 to 2004 with women with breast cancer, results showed that patients benefitted from participating in art therapy for up to four months after the intervention. The aim of this study was to describe the coping resources and quality of life amongst women treated for breast cancer five to seven years after participating in individual art therapy during radiotherapy as compared to a control group. In 2009, thirty-seven women, 18 from the intervention group and 19 from the control group, answered questionnaires about their coping resources and quality of life. The results showed no significant difference between the groups regarding their coping resources or quality of life, except for an unexpected significantly lower score in the domain ‘Social relations’ in the study group as compared to baseline, at the time of the follow up. However, our study from 2001 to 2004 supports various positive effects of art therapy within six months of participation as compared to a control group. Consequently, attending art therapy during the treatment period for breast cancer can be of great importance to support health, coping and quality of life in a short-term perspective.