The effect of reminiscence therapy-involved care on anxiety, depression, life quality and survival in colorectal cancer patients

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of reminiscence therapy-involved care (RTC) program on anxiety, depression, quality of life and survival in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. There were 210 post-resection CRC patients recruited and randomly received RTC (N = 105) or control care (CC) (N = 105) for 12 months. Their anxiety, depression and quality of life were assessed using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) at baseline (Month (M) 0), M3, M6 and M12. Patients were further followed up to 36 months, followed by the overall survival (OS) calculation. HADS-anxiety score was decreased at M6/M12 and anxiety patients' percentage was reduced at M12 in RTC group compared with CC group; HADS-depression score was lower at M6/M12, while depression patients' percentage was similar at each time point in RTC group compared with CC group; QLQ-C30 global health status score and QLQ-C30 functions score were increased at M6/M12, while QLQ-C30 symptoms score was similar at each time point in RTC group compared with CC group. Further sub-group analysis displayed that: in patients with age ≥65 years, patients with pathological grade G2 and patients with TNM stage Ⅱ-Ⅲ, RTC showed more remarkable effect. Additionally, OS showed a higher trend in RTC group compared with CC group, but without statistical difference. RTC contributes to anxiety and depression alleviations as well as the quality of life improvement in CRC patients.