RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Proactive psychological and psychiatric support of patients with chronic non-communicable diseases in a randomised trial: a Ukrainian experience
JF General Psychiatry
JO Gen Psych
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e100881
DO 10.1136/gpsych-2022-100881
VO 35
IS 5
A1 O O Khaustova
A1 M V Markova
A1 M O Driuchenko
A1 A O Burdeinyi
YR 2022
UL http://gpsych.bmj.com/content/35/5/e100881.abstract
AB Background Presently, approaches for the early treatment of pathological anxiety in patients with chronic non-communicable diseases are lacking, thus delaying the initiation of symptom management at the early onset of the illness. Proactive psychological and psychiatric support, to alleviate subclinical symptoms of anxiety and to improve the quality of life in patients with chronic non-communicable diseases, is a promising candidate for the role of such therapy.Aims To investigate and determine the effectiveness of proactive psychological and psychiatric support for alleviating subclinical symptoms of anxiety and improving quality of life, in patients with chronic non-communicable diseases.Methods The study design was a monocentric randomised controlled trial with parallel groups. The study, involving 193 inpatients with chronic non-communicable diseases, complied with the ethical and deontological norms in accordance with the principles set out in the Declaration of Helsinki. Instruments used in the study included the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A) to assess subclinical symptoms, the Scale of Somatic Symptoms and the Chaban Quality of Life Scale. Block randomisation was used to randomise patients to a 2-month-long study group with a proactive counselling psychiatry model care or a control group with standard regulated treatment for chronic non-communicable diseases. The allocation ratio was 1.15:1 owing to the expectancy of a higher percentage of dropout in the intervention group.Results After 60 days of treatment (T2), there was a statistically significant difference in all clinical parameters between the study and control groups. The median HAM-A value differed between the groups by 4.87 points, with statistically significant lower results in the study group. The comparison of the study group’s scale values on day 1 and day 60 demonstrated statistically significant changes in all three indicators.Conclusions Our results support existing evidence for the effectiveness of proactive psychological and psychiatric support to reduce subclinical anxiety and somatisation symptoms and to improve the quality of life for patients with common chronic non-communicable diseases. However, continued research on the effectiveness of proactive psychological and psychiatric support for patients with chronic non-communicable diseases is needed.All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.