Effect of integrative medicine nursing on returned overseas Chinese elderly with depression

Abstract

Objective To explore nursing intervention of integrative medicine on returned overseas Chinese elderly with depression. Methods A total of 71 elderly with depression were divided into control group (n=36) and intervention group (n=35) randomly. The control group received routine nursing while the intervention group underwent serval integrative medicine nursing intervention such as syndrome differentiation types, emotional adjustment, and dietetic regulation. We utilized the Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS) and Social Support Rating Scale(SSRS) and compared the result of nursing intervention. Results After 6 months, the scores of GDS in the intervention group was (12.71±7.31) while the control group was (14.45±6.33) with statistical significance (t=4.87, P<0.01). There was 48.6% of patients assessed as non-depression in the intervention group which was higher than the control group (19.5%) (χ2=6.89, P<0.05). The score of SSRS in the intervention group acquired 5.52±0.72 higher than the control group (4.89±0.87) (t=5.02, P<0.01). Conclusions It is that integrative medicine nursing such as syndrome differentiation dietetic regulation and emotional adjustment is better than the normal nursing method and is worthy of promotion in clinic. Key words: Elderly; Depression; Nursing care; Integrative medicine; Returned overseas Chinese