Comparing the effect of emotional freedom technique on sleep quality and happiness of women undergoing breast cancer surgery in military and nonmilitary families: A quasi-experimental multicenter study

Controlled trial👥 133 participants⚖️ vs. usual care (non-randomized comparison groups)Moderate rigor✓ Source-checked📍 Iran

In plain English. Women recovering from breast cancer surgery — some from military families, some not — were taught tapping and compared against similar women who didn't receive it. In both groups, the women who learned tapping slept better and reported more happiness right after and a month later, and it worked equally well regardless of military-family background. This was a quasi-experimental study, meaning participants weren't randomly assigned, so it carries a bit more risk of hidden differences between groups than a full RCT.

What they found

133

people took part

Sleep quality and happiness scores improved significantly immediately after and one month after the EFT intervention in both military and nonmilitary intervention groups compared to their respective control groups, with no significant difference between the military and nonmilitary intervention groups.

How the study worked

Who took partwomen undergoing breast cancer surgery, from both military and nonmilitary families (n=133)

What they didIn a controlled trial, a tapping group was compared against a separate comparison group.

Compared withusual care (non-randomized comparison groups)

Measured withsleep quality, happiness scale

💡 Where this could help

If findings like these hold up in larger trials, the promise is simple: a low-cost, self-administered tool that could reach people struggling with cancer & serious illness who can't easily access traditional care — at home, between appointments, or where there aren't enough clinicians to go around.

🔬 What to study next

The natural next step: longer-term follow-up to see how durable the benefit is, and an active ('sham tapping') control to isolate what's doing the work.

The full record

Design	Controlled trial
Participants	133 people
Population	women undergoing breast cancer surgery, from both military and nonmilitary families
Comparison group	usual care (non-randomized comparison groups)
Outcome measures	sleep quality, happiness scale
Journal	Perspectives in Psychiatric Care
Year	2022
Country	Iran
Language	English
Method	EFT / tapping
Publication type	Study / trial
Verification	✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Kalroozi, F., & et al. (2022). Comparing the effect of emotional freedom technique on sleep quality and happiness of women undergoing breast cancer surgery in military and nonmilitary families: A quasi-experimental multicenter study. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppc.13150

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Cancer & Serious Illness · Sleep & Insomnia