Rational Emotive Therapy and Anxiety in Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Quasi-Experiment Pre-Post Control Study

Abstract

During the process of hospitalization of the illness, patients can experience various incidents or treatments which according to various studies are very traumatic and stressful. This study aimed to explain the effect of Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) on the level of anxiety in chronic disease patients. The research design used a quasi-experiment pre-post control group design. The sample of this study was 10 patients with chronic diseases in the age range of 30–50 years using purposive sampling techniques in taking the subject of the study. The results of the experiment showed that there was no real difference in anxiety before and after RET. The experimental group showed Asymp (asymptotic significance). A significance of 0,046 (p < 0.05) means there was a real difference in anxieties before and after RET. The Mann-Whitney test results obtained an asymp (asymptotic significance) of 0.042 (p< 0.05). This indicates that there were real differences in both groups (control and experiment) after treatment. While the Mann-Whitney trial results received an asymptotic significance of 0,549 (p > 0.05), that means there were no significant differences between the two groups (control and experimental) before treatment. It can be concluded that rational-emotional therapy can lower the level of anxiety of chronic disease patients.