A positive mental attitude does not improve a cancer patient鈥檚 chances of survival, UK researchers say. Their conclusion is based on a detailed review of 28 studies that investigated the way in which people cope with their illnesses.
The few studies that have found a relationship between a fighting spirit and a better long-term prognosis were small-scale or flawed, say the scientists, led by Mark Petticrew of the MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow, UK.
They admit such a link is 鈥渂iologically plausible鈥� and widely believed by doctors and patients, but say there is very little scientific basis for it. This means patients should not feel under pressure to adopt a particular mental approach to coping with their disease, they say. But it does not mean that a positive attitude has no benefits at all to a patient.
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鈥淲e鈥檙e not saying it鈥檚 bad generally to have a positive attitude,鈥� Petticrew told 快猫短视频. 鈥淭here are lots of reasons to have a positive mental attitude other than survival, such as better quality of life and avoidance of anxiety and depression.鈥�
Fighting spirit
Petticrew鈥檚 team scoured medical databases for all research published in the field. They identified 28 separate studies that investigated a link between psychological coping and survival, or looked at recurrence of the cancer.
Most involved breast cancer but others looked at leukaemia, melanoma, lung and other cancers. Ten studies investigated the impact of a 鈥渇ighting spirit鈥�, but only two small studies produced positive evidence of a link with survival.
Three small studies reported that a fighting spirit was associated with a reduced risk of cancer recurrence 鈥� but a fourth much larger study did not find such a link.
Other studies looked at coping styles characterised by helplessness, denial or avoidance, and acceptance, for example. Again, while one or two small studies found evidence of a link between these 鈥榥egative鈥� styles and reduced survival, most did not.
And about one third of all the studies did not adjust for potentially confounding variables, such as age and initial severity of the cancer. 鈥淭his is a possible explanation for some of the positive findings,鈥� the team says.
Journal reference: British Medical Journal (vol 325, p 1066)