Luctkar-Flude Marian F, Tyerman Jane, Groll Dianne
School of Nursing, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Trent Fleming School of Nursing, Trent University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Asia Pac J Oncol Nurs. 2019 Jan-Mar;6(1):35-42. doi: 10.4103/apjon.apjon_34_18.
Cancer survivors may experience persistent physical and psychological symptoms following completion of cancer treatment. Neurofeedback is a noninvasive form of brain training reported to help with symptoms including pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and cognitive decline; however, there is a lack of research exploring its use with cancer survivors. The objective of this study was to describe the experiences of neurofeedback and its impact on the lives of posttreatment cancer survivors as perceived by neurofeedback providers and cancer survivor clients.
This qualitative descriptive study employed semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis of interview transcripts. A convenience sample of twelve neurofeedback providers and five cancer survivor clients participated in this study.
Thematic analysis revealed seven overarching themes as follows: (1) paying it forward; (2) transforming lives; (3) regaining control; (4) brain healing itself; (5) comforting experience, (6) accessibility, and (7) failure to respond. The first five themes related to benefits of neurofeedback, and the final two related to challenges of using neurofeedback with cancer survivors.
Results support the use of neurofeedback to improve quality of life for cancer survivors; however, more research is needed to determine which neurofeedback systems and protocols are most effective for this population with persistent symptoms.
癌症幸存者在完成癌症治疗后可能会经历持续的身体和心理症状。神经反馈是一种无创的大脑训练形式，据报道有助于缓解包括疼痛、疲劳、抑郁、焦虑、失眠和认知衰退等症状；然而，缺乏关于其在癌症幸存者中应用的研究。本研究的目的是描述神经反馈提供者和癌症幸存者客户所感知的神经反馈体验及其对治疗后癌症幸存者生活的影响。
这项定性描述性研究采用了半结构化访谈和访谈记录的主题分析。十二名神经反馈提供者和五名癌症幸存者客户的便利样本参与了本研究。
主题分析揭示了七个总体主题如下：（1）传递爱心；（2）改变生活；（3）重新获得控制；（4）大脑自我修复；（5）舒适体验；（6）可及性；（7）无反应。前五个主题与神经反馈的益处相关，最后两个主题与对癌症幸存者使用神经反馈的挑战相关。
结果支持使用神经反馈来改善癌症幸存者的生活质量；然而，需要更多研究来确定哪种神经反馈系统和方案对有持续症状的这一人群最有效。
