Anxiety Quality Of Life Research Articles

Anxiety disorders and Quality of life: The Role of Occupational Therapy

Introduction Anxiety disorders represent the most common mental illnesses, which are listed among the ten most important causes of disability worldwide. According to DSM-5, they are defined as “disorders that share characteristics of excessive fear and anxiety and related behavioral disorders”. Patients exhibit low levels of quality of life. Their daily routine is affected negatively. However, Occupational Therapy has been proven to play a crucial role in their treatment, improving quality of life through the involvement in occupations.ObjectivesTo highlight the contribution of Occupational Therapy in ameliorating the quality of life in anxiety disorders.MethodsA review of 50 articles -from 2013 to 2023- on PubMed and Google Scholar, regarding the beneficial impact of Occupational Therapy in the Anxiety Disorders’ treatment.Results Occupational Therapists can intervene in many negatively affected -by the disease- life domains such as: Activities of Daily Living, Education, Work, Play, Social Interaction and Sleep. The most effective Occupational Therapy methods are based on the cognitive behavioral approach and include: Psychoeducation, Relaxation techniques, Social skills training and Systematic desensitization.Other methods involve training in Activities of Daily Living such as feeding, maintaining good personal hygiene, and using public transport. Furthermore, Art Therapy (visual arts, use of clay) has been shown to reduce feelings of anxiety, while promoting creativity and enhancing self-esteem.ConclusionsAdditional research is needed regarding the effectiveness of Occupational Therapy in improving the quality of life for patients suffering from Anxiety Disorders. The important “take home message” is that the amelioration of the patients’ quality of life should be the main goal of the therapeutic intervention and not a secondary result of it.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

A modern web-based health promotion program for patients in Greece with diabetes 2 and obesity: an interventional study

BackgroundHealth promotion programs are most beneficial in chronic diseases such as diabetes and morbid obesity, which can be positively affected by changes in attitudes, beliefs, and lifestyle.ObjectivesThis study aimed to develop an internet-based modern Health Promotion model using interactive online applications through continuing education and participation.MethodsThe goal was to positively impact knowledge, behavior, and quality of life for patients with obesity and/or diabetes. This is a prospective interventional study on patients with obesity or type 2 diabetes. Seventeen two patients who met the inclusion criteria were distributed randomly into two groups (control and intervention) from 2019 to 2021 in Greece. All the participants were given questionaries concerning quality of life anxiety and depression (HADS) attitudes and beliefs, knowledge about their condition and general questions to establish a baseline. A traditional health promotion model was followed for the control group. For participants in the intervention group, a web-based health promotion program was created according to the goals of the research. Participants were instructed to log on 1–2 times a week for 5–15 min, with the understanding that the research team would be monitoring their activities. The website included two knowledge games and personalized educational material based on their needs.ResultsThe sample comprised 72 patients (36 in control and 36 in the intervention groups). The mean age was 47.8 years for the control group and 42.7 years for the intervention group (p = 0.293). Both study groups had a significant increase in knowledge score on diabetes (Control group:3,24, Intervention group 11,88 p < 0,001) and obesity (Control group:4,9, Intervention group 51,63 p < 0,001) along with a positive attitude score towards fighting obesity (Control group: 1,8, Intervention group 13,6 p < 0,001). Still, the overall change was more remarkable for the intervention group, as indicated by the significant interaction effect of the analysis. Anxiety was decreased only in the intervention group (Control group:0,11, Intervention group − 0,17 p < 0,005). Analysis for QOL during follow-up showed that Physical Health and Level of Independence was improved in both study groups but the degree of improvement was more significant in the intervention group (Control group 0,31,Intervention group 0,73 p < 0,001). Psychological Health was improved only in the intervention group, with better scores at 6 and 12 months compared to controls (Control group 0,28,Intervention group 1,42 p < 0,001). Furthermore, Social relationships were improved only in the intervention group (Control group 0,02, Intervention group 0,56 p < 0,001).ConclusionsThe results of the present study showed that the participants in the intervention group showed significant improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs after using the internet as a learning tool. The intervention group also showed significantly reduced anxiety and depression arising from chronic illness. All of this resulted in an improved quality of life regarding physical Health, mental Health, and social relationships. Technology and online-based health promotion programs can revolutionize how we approach the prevention and management of chronic and terminal illnesses by improving accessibility, personalizing care, increasing engagement and motivation, improving data analysis, and disease management.

Higher Child-Reported Internalizing and Parent-Reported Externalizing Behaviors were Associated with Decreased Quality of Life among Pediatric Cardiac Patients Independent of Diagnosis: A Cross-Sectional Mixed-Methods Assessment

Background: Pediatric cardiology patients often experience decreased quality of life (QoL) and higher rates of mental illness, particularly with severe disease, but the relationship between them and comparisons across diagnostic groups are limited. This mixed-methods cross-sectional study assessed the association between QoL anxiety and behavior problems among children with structural heart disease, arrhythmia, or other cardiac diagnoses. Methods: Children (6–14 years, n = 76, 50% female) and their parents completed measures of QoL (PedsQL), behavior (BASC-2, subset of 19 children) and anxiety (MASC-2, children 8+ years). Pearson correlations/regression models examined associations between QoL, behavior and anxiety, controlling for age, sex, diagnosis and condition severity. Student t-tests compared results to published normative values. Semi-structured interviews (15 children, 13 parents) examined self- and parent-reported perceptions of the patient’s emotional health. Results: Child reported social QoL (95% CI difference: −11.0, −2.1), emotional well-being (95% CI difference: −12.5, −3.8) and adjustment skills (95% CI difference: −13.9, −3.0) were significantly below published norms (p < 0.05). Neither age, sex, nor diagnosis were significantly related to questionnaire responses. Compared to children with mild conditions, child and parent-reported QoL was significantly lower in children with complex conditions (np2 ≥ 0.14, p < 0.05). Lower QoL was strongly associated with more internalizing problems based on both child (r = −0.78, p < 0.001) and parent (r = −0.67, p < 0.001) reports. Interview responses suggested emotional distress was attributed to “normal” child problems rather than the child’s cardiac problem. Conclusion: Children with complex cardiac conditions, regardless of diagnosis, had diminished QoL. Using the PedsQL in clinical settings may help identify pediatric cardiology patients experiencing emotional distress (i.e., anxiety and depression).

Anhedonia is central for the association between quality of life, metacognition, sleep, and affective symptoms in generalized anxiety disorder: A complex network analysis

BackgroundPoor quality of life, sleep problems, anhedonia, and negative metacognitions are common in anxiety and depression. To examine the nature of the relationship between these features and the role of metacognitions, anhedonia, and quality of life in anxiety and depression, we conducted a complex network analysis with items of self-report measures assessing quality of life, sleep, negative thinking styles, anxiety, and depression. MethodsParticipants were 226 treatment seeking individuals with a primary DSM-5 diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder. Node centrality, strength, expected influence, community, and bridge estimation were calculated using partial correlation coefficients and glasso regularization. ResultsResults revealed that anhedonia was the most central node followed by quality of life nodes. Moreover, anhedonia exhibited the highest strength and expected influence, which were both stable, reliable metrics within the network. Metacognitions were not central nodes in the network, but were strong bridge symptoms between communities. LimitationsThe results are limited by the cross-sectional nature of the data and the administration of self-report scales at one time-point, despite different rating anchors. ConclusionThese findings suggest that anhedonia is a crucial element for the association between quality of life, sleep problems, and negative cognitions.

Mo1115 Differences in Symptom Profiles Quality of Life Anxiety and Depression Scores Between Patients WHO Suffered From Gastrointestinal Symptom More and Less Than 6 Months

Mo1115 Differences in Symptom Profiles Quality of Life Anxiety and Depression Scores Between Patients WHO Suffered From Gastrointestinal Symptom More and Less Than 6 Months

Quality of life in depression and anxiety

Depression and anxiety disorders are recognized as major public health problems with substantial personal, economic and social burden on those afflicted and their families. Despite this the development of quality of life research has been rather slow in the field but it is evident both from epidemiological and clinical studies that persons with major depression have a substantially lower subjective quality of life than healthy subjects, and that quality of life is severely affected in a number of life domains as well as associated with a worse functioning in various external life conditions. Subjective quality of life has also mostly been found to be worse than in other psychiatric conditions and equal to or worse than quality of life in several major medical chronic illnesses. Although investigations of quality of life in anxiety disorder are growing they are less frequent than in depression and still in its infancy. This is most evident concerning post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and further studies in all anxiety disorders are strongly needed. The general picture emerging from studies performed is that anxiety disorders are illnesses that impair quality of life and social functioning in a number of life domains. There is some evidence that quality of life is most compromised in panic disorder (PD) and PTSD.

Quality of life in anxiety and social phobia

International Clinical Psychopharmacology provides an essential link between research and clinical practice throughout psychopharmacology. It reports on studies in human subjects, both healthy volunteers and patients, which relate the effects of drugs on psychological processes. A major objective of the journal is to publish fully refereed papers which throw light on the ways in which the study of psychotropic drugs can increase our understanding of psychopharmacology. To this end the journal publishes results of early Phase I and II studies, as well as those of controlled clinical trials of psychotropic drugs in Phase II and IV. Other topics covered include the epidemiology of psychotropic drug prescribing and drug taking, the sociology of psychotropic drugs including compliance, and research into the safety and adverse effects of these compounds. Submitted articles undergo a preliminary review by the editor. Some articles may be returned to authors without further consideration. Those being considered for publication will undergo further assessment and peer-review by the editors and those invited to do so from a reviewer pool. ​

Quality of life in anxiety

Quality of life in anxiety