The Effect Of Inter-personal Psychotherapy On Treatment Outcome Among Breast Cancer Patients With Common Mental Disorder: A Randomized Control Trial At Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2019-10
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Background: Cancer is a serious and life-threatening disease with negative effects on physical and psychological well-being of patients. Depression and anxiety are the commonest co-morbidities that adversely affects how people feel, the way they think and how they act and it is common among cancer patients. The impact of common mental disorder (CMDs) on cancer patients is not well recognized and managed in Ethiopia while there is a dearth of evidence on the effect of Psychotherapy on depression, anxiety and treatment outcome among cancer patients. Interpersonal psychotherapy is one therapy technique used to treat common mental disorders.
Objectives:-To determine the Effect of Interpersonal Psychotherapy On treatment outcome among Breast Cancer patients with a common mental disorder at Tikur Anbessa specialized teaching Hospital (TASH), Addis Ababa, 2018/19.
Methods: A parallel randomized control trial was employed on 124 breast cancer patients with CMD that are randomly selected from TASH oncology unit Out-patient department in weeks. Then study participants was randomly assigned as Intervention group (n=62) and control group (n=62) randomly in weeks and also single blinding was employed so as the outcome assessors are blinded of the belongingness of individuals to specific study group.To avoid information contamination patients were randomized in weeks.
As an outcome measure we hypothesized treatment outcome as the dependent variable and it was assessed using a 30 item questionnaire of quality of life measurement scale. Depression and anxiety were the independent variables that are measured with hospital anxiety and depression measurement scale. Both tools were validated for use inEthiopia.
Psychotherapy was given for a month in a weekly basis. Then outcome was measured two weeks after the final therapy with similar tool that were used at baseline.Data was analysed using GLM (ANCOVA) to control the effect of confounders. With 95% confidence interval and P-value < 0.05 was used to declare the statistical significance.
Result: Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Ethiopian use (IPT-E) had an effect on treatment outcome. IPT-E had a significant effect in decreasing anxiety, -5.76 with 95% CI (-7.10, -2.90) and depression, -4.74 with 95% (-6.44, -3.10) and with an IPT-E had also a significant effect on quality of life domains of physical, role, cognitive, emotional and social functioning with (p<0.05).
And from the symptom scales insomnia and fatigue were decreased (p<0.05) also health-related quality of life was significantly improved (p<0.001).
Conclusion and recommendation: Interpersonal psychotherapy had an effect on treatment outcomes, among breast cancer patients with common mental disorders. So health programmers may consider incorporating it as a treatment option in the oncology unit.
Description
Keywords
Psychotherapy , Breast Cancer Patients, Mental Disorder