effect of masnavi-based poetry therapy on anxiety, depression and stress of women with breast cancer

Background: breast cancer patients’ psychological problems affect different aspects of their life, such as quality of life and response to treatments. objectives: this research aimed to study the effectiveness of masnavi-based poetry therapy on anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with breast cancer. methods: the study was conducted on 91 patients with breast cancer. they were divided into the poetry therapy group (n = 31) and no intervention as the control group (n = 60). the intervention group attended six sessions of weekly masnavi-based poetry therapy. the depression, anxiety and stress scale-21 items (dass-21) questionnaires were completed by patients before, one week, and two months after the intervention. results: depression, anxiety, and stress were not significantly different between the two groups at the baseline. poetry therapy decreases anxiety, depression, and stress of patients based on dass-21 after one week and eight weeks in the intervention group (p = 0.006, p = 0.001, p = 0.01, respectively). one week after the intervention, the scores for depression, anxiety, and stress were significantly lower in the poetry therapy group than those in the control group (p = 0.02, p = 0.01, p = 0.03, respectively). all depression, anxiety, and stress presentations were significantly improved in the poetry therapy group in comparison to the control group at the end of week eight (p = 0.01, p = 0.03, p = 0.02, respectively). conclusions: group poetry therapy as useful psychotherapy could decrease anxiety and depression in women with breast cancer.