BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Cancer is usually associated with decreased self-esteem. Relaxation is one of the most effective methods to promote self-esteem of patients with chronic diseases. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of relaxation on self-esteem of patients with cancer. METHODS This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 80 patients with cancer. The samples were selected by convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, the patients implemented relaxation techniques once a day for 30 min during 60 consecutive days in addition to receiving routine care, while patients in the control group received only routine care. Before and after the intervention, the Persian version of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (CSEI) was completed. RESULTS After the interventions, significant differences were observed between groups in favor of the relaxation group in total score of CSEI and all its subscales (P = 0.0001). In the experimental group, a significant increase in total score and all subscales of CSEI was observed after the intervention (P = 0.001), whereas in the control group, a significant decrease was found in all dimensions (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION The relaxation seems to be potentially effective in promoting self-esteem of patients with cancer. Further studies, particularly randomized clinical trials with higher sample size and more power, are needed to confirm the obtained findings.

中文翻译：

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放松对癌症患者自尊的影响：一项随机临床试验。

背景和目标癌症通常与自尊心下降有关。放松是促进慢性病患者自尊最有效的方法之一。因此，本研究旨在调查放松对癌症患者自尊的影响。方法 这项随机临床试验对 80 名癌症患者进行。采用便利抽样方法选取样本，随机分为实验组和对照组。实验组患者在接受常规护理的基础上，连续60天每天进行一次30分钟的放松技巧，而对照组患者仅接受常规护理。干预前后，完成了波斯语版本的库珀史密斯自尊量表（CSEI）。结果 干预后，放松组的 CSEI 总分及其所有分量表均存在显着差异（P = 0.0001）。实验组干预后CSEI总分及各分量表均显着上升（P = 0.001），而对照组各维度均显着下降（P = 0.001）。结论 放松似乎对促进癌症患者的自尊有潜在的功效。需要进一步的研究，特别是具有更大样本量和更强功效的随机临床试验来证实所获得的结果。