The Tapping Evidence Base
Cancer & Serious Illness · Anxiety

Effectiveness of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) on patient anxiety in stage II and III breast cancer

Published in Indonesian ; the title shown is a translation, and the original-language title appears in the citation below . The plain-English summary was written for this directory from the original-language paper.

Ningsih, S., Karim, D., Sabrian, F. · Online Student Journal (JOM) in Nursing · 2015

Controlled trial 👥 30 participants ⚖️ vs. non-equivalent control group 📈 Cohen's -1.13 (large) Preliminary ✓ Source-checked 📍 Indonesia
In plain English. Thirty women with stage II or III breast cancer in Indonesia tried EFT to help with the anxiety that comes with a serious cancer diagnosis. Those who did EFT saw a significant drop in anxiety compared to a similar group that didn't. It's a modest-sized quasi-experimental study, so a fully randomized trial would strengthen the evidence.

What they found

Cohen's = -1.13
a large effect · on anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, higher=worse), EFT vs non-equivalent con
small moderate large
0 0.5 0.8 2.5
Thirty women with stage II or III breast cancer in Indonesia tried EFT to help with the anxiety that comes with a serious cancer diagnosis.

The experimental group showed a significant reduction in anxiety (p = 0.005) compared to the non-equivalent control group.

How the study worked

Who took part stage II and III breast cancer patients at Arifin Achmad Hospital, Pekanbaru, Indonesia (n=30)
What they did In a controlled trial, a tapping group was compared against a separate comparison group.
Compared with non-equivalent control group
Measured with anxiety questionnaire

💡 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: a larger sample to confirm the effect.

The full record

DesignControlled trial
Participants30 people
Populationstage II and III breast cancer patients at Arifin Achmad Hospital, Pekanbaru, Indonesia
Comparison groupnon-equivalent control group
Effect sizeCohen's d = -1.13 — on anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, higher=worse), EFT vs non-equivalent control (between-group), post-test; EFT lower (p=0.005). Computed from Table 3 (EFT 36.59±7.14 vs control 44.17±6.27, n=15/arm). Quasi-experimental non-equivalent control-group design
Outcome measuresanxiety questionnaire
JournalOnline Student Journal (JOM) in Nursing
Year2015
CountryIndonesia
LanguageIndonesian
MethodEFT / Tapping
Publication typeStudy / trial
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

Read the original study →

Cite this study

APA

Ningsih, S., Karim, D., & Sabrian, F. (2015). Effectiveness of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) on patient anxiety in stage II and III breast cancer. Online Student Journal (JOM) in Nursing.

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 · Anxiety

Share this study

A ready-made graphic — right-click or long-press to save the image.

Show shareable card
THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Cancer & Serious Illness Cohen's -1.13 large effect WHAT THEY FOUND The experimental group showed a significantreduction in anxiety (p = 0.005) compared tothe non-equivalent control… Controlled trial · 30 participants Ningsih · 2015 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com