ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Supportive-expressive group therapy has been reported to prolong survival among women with metastatic breast cancer. However, in recent studies, various psychosocial interventions have not prolonged survival. METHODS: In a multicenter trial, we randomly assigned 235 women with metastatic breast cancer who were expected to survive at least three months in a 2:1 ratio to an intervention group that participated in weekly supportive-expressive group therapy (158 women) or to a control group that received no such intervention (77 women). All the women received educational materials and any medical or psychosocial care that was deemed necessary. The primary outcome was survival; psychosocial function was assessed by self-reported questionnaires. RESULTS: Women assigned to supportive-expressive therapy had greater improvement in psychological symptoms and reported less pain (P=0.04) than women in the control group. A significant interaction of treatment-group assignment with base-line psychological score was found (P
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms/psychology , Psychotherapy, Group , Social Support , Adult , Affect , Breast Neoplasms/mortality , Breast Neoplasms/therapy , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Neoplasm Metastasis , Pain/etiology , Pain/psychology , Pain Measurement , Psychotherapy, Group/methods , Survival AnalysisABSTRACT
In light-adapted frogs (adaptation luminance 10(3) asb) repeated flashes of high intensity (10(5) asb) caused decrease of the b-wave in the electroretinogram as compared to the results obtained with dark-adapted animals. The amplitude changes were monotonous in all cases; they were dependent on the spacing and duration of the stimulus. With short intervals (2-10 sec) the amplitude adjusted to a new level no later than after 8 flashes. With longer intervals (30 and 60 sec), however, the amplitude decreased slowly and steadily over the whole period of experiment. Under these conditions, adjustment to a new level was prevented by disturbing factors, which additionally reduced the retinal sensitivity depending on the duration of the experiment.
