Who participates in a randomized trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) after breast cancer? A study of factors associated with enrollment among Danish breast cancer patients

BACKGROUND: Discussion regarding the necessity to identify patients with both the need and motivation for psychosocial intervention is ongoing. Evidence for an effect of mindfulness-based interventions among cancer patients is based on few studies with no systematic enrollment. METHODS: We used Danish population-based registries and clinical databases to determine differences in demographics, breast cancer and co-morbidity among 1208 women eligible for a randomized controlled trial (www.clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00990977) of mindfulness-based stress reduction MBSR. RESULTS: Participants (N = 336) were found to be younger (p