The effect of dignity therapy on anxiety and depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A randomized clinical trial

Tahmineh Sharifmoradi; Hojatollah Yousefi; Vajihe Atashi; Narges Hashemi; Ramin Sami

doi:10.4103/jehp.jehp_1237_23

The effect of dignity therapy on anxiety and depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A randomized clinical trial

J Educ Health Promot. 2024 Oct 28:13:387. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_1237_23. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Tahmineh Sharifmoradi¹, Hojatollah Yousefi², Vajihe Atashi², Narges Hashemi², Ramin Sami³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Adult Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
² Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Centre, Department of Adult Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
³ Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Anxiety and depression can prolong the treatment process and impose financial burdens on the health system in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Dignity therapy is one of the methods of eliminating these symptoms. The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of dignity therapy on the severity of anxiety and depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Materials and methods: This clinical trial was conducted on 62 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, referring to the comprehensive respiratory clinic of Khorshid Hospital (Isfahan, Iran) in 2021. The patients were randomly allocated to intervention and control groups. Each patient of the intervention group underwent dignity therapy for four 45-60-min sessions, whereas no intervention was performed in the control group. Data were collected using demographic information questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), before the intervention and one month after the completion of the intervention in two groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) as well as descriptive (mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage) and inferential (Chi-square, independent t-test, and paired t-test) statistics.

Results: The mean score of anxiety of the patients before the intervention was not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.18); but one month after the intervention, it was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (P = 0.05). Also, the score of depression was not significantly different between the two groups before (P = 0.68) and one month after the intervention (P > 0.05).

Conclusion: Dignity therapy could reduce anxiety in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; thus, it could be used as a nonpharmacological, cost-effective and probably without side effects method.

Keywords: Anxiety; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; depression; dignity; therapy.