Application of group psychotherapy in young and middle-aged patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis

Abstract

Objective To explore the effects of group psychotherapy on posttraumatic growth (PTG) , anxiety and depression of young and middle-aged patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) and to provide a reference for improving patients' PTG and reducing their negative emotion. Methods Totally 78 patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing regular hemodialysis in the Hemodialysis Center of a Class III Grade A hospital in Harbin between April and December 2018 were selected by convenient sampling and randomized divided into control (n=38) and experimental (n=40) groups. Patients in the control group received conventional nursing care and follow-up visits, while patients in the experimental group underwent group psychotherapy for 2 months. Chinese Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) , Self-Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-Depression Scale (SDS) were used to assess PTG, anxiety and depression of the two groups before and after intervention. A t test was conducted to compare the scores before and after intervention. Results At last, a total of 36 patients in the experimental group and 37 patients in the control group completed the study. After group psychotherapy, the PTGI score of the experimental group was (85.89±11.02) , higher than (73.55±9.14) of the control group, and there was statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05) . The SAS and SDS scores of the experimental group were (47.23±5.18) and (40.38±8.34) , lower than (55.38±6.28) and (44.16±7.09) of the control group, and there were statistically significant differences between the two groups (P<0.05) . Conclusions Group psychotherapy can improve the PTG of young and middle-aged patients undergoing MHD, and reduce their anxiety and depression, which is worthy promoting in clinical practice. Key words: Dialysis; Young and middle-aged; Group psychotherapy; Posttraumatic growth; Anxiety; Depression