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A Randomized Evaluation of Quality‐of‐Life Therapy with Patients Awaiting Lung Transplantation
Author(s) -
Rodrigue James R.,
Baz Maher A.,
Widows Michelle R.,
Ehlers Shawna L.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
american journal of transplantation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.89
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1600-6143
pISSN - 1600-6135
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-6143.2005.01038.x
Subject(s) - medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , mood , transplantation , lung transplantation , randomized controlled trial , repeated measures design , physical therapy , intervention (counseling) , clinical psychology , psychiatry , statistics , nursing , mathematics
Research shows that patients wait‐listed for lung transplantation have very poor quality of life (QOL). This study evaluated the effectiveness of Quality‐of‐Life Therapy (QOLT) in improving QOL, mood disturbance and social intimacy in adults awaiting lung transplantation. Thirty‐five adults were randomized to QOLT (n = 17) or supportive therapy (ST; n = 18) and received individual, telephone‐based treatment sessions. QOL, mood and social intimacy assessments were conducted at baseline and at 1 and 3 months after treatment. Repeated measures analyses of variance showed significant Condition × Time interaction effects for all three primary outcome measures. Subsequent post hoc analyses showed that the two groups did not differ significantly at baseline, but did differ significantly at the 1‐ and 3‐month follow‐up assessments. When compared to ST patients, QOLT patients had significantly higher QOL scores at the 1‐ and 3‐month assessments, lower mood disturbance scores at the 3‐month assessment, and higher social intimacy scores at the 1‐month assessment. Results indicate that a patient's QOL, mood state and relationship with the primary caregiver can be positively impacted by a brief psychological intervention prior to lung transplantation.