The Effects of a Brief Supportive Psychotherapeutic Intervention Among Hemodialyzed Patients: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Objectives to assess health-related quality of life and resilience among hemodialyzed patients in the city of Porto, Portugal, before and after the Relaxation, Mental Images and Spirituality psychotherapeutic intervention, and identify factors interfering in these patients’ levels of resilience. Method a quasi-experimental study was conducted from November 2018 to April 2019 among 17 patients attending two dialysis centers located in Porto, Portugal. A questionnaire addressing sociodemographic and clinical information was applied together with the Kidney Disease Quality of Life-Short Form, a resilience scale, and a brief psychotherapeutic intervention. Each patient attended three intervention sessions, and the instruments were applied before and after the intervention. The Shapiro-Wilk test was performed to verify the normality of data, while the Student’s t-test and Wilcoxon test were performed to compare the means, and linear regression was used to identify resilience-associated factors. Results after the intervention, quality of life perception improved in virtually all the scale’s domains, with statistically significant differences in the physical function (p=0.006) and emotional function (p=0.021). The resilience assessment revealed a statistically significant improvement in the post-intervention (p=0.002); linear regression analyses showed that having a religion, other pathologies, or a history of transplant is related to increased resilience levels while taking antidepressants or anti-hypertensive medications negatively affect it. Conclusion the intervention contributed to improving resilience and some domains concerning the patients’ quality of life. Thus, it can be implemented among patients undergoing hemodialysis.