Effects of rational emotive behavior therapy on alexithymia, anxiety, depression and sleep quality of older people in nursing homes: a quasi-experimental study

BMC Nursing

Research

Andy SK Cheng¹  Sha Wang²  Jianfei Xie²  Min Liu²  Ning Qin³  Jie Li³  Chun Zhang⁴  Huan Cao⁴  Yating Luo⁴  Xiaoqian Dong⁴  Xiaoqi Wu⁴ 

[1] Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 999077, Hong Kong, China;Nursing Department, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 410013, Changsha, Hunan, China;Nursing Department, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 410013, Changsha, Hunan, China;Xiang Ya Nursing School, Central South University, 410013, Changsha, Hunan, China;Xiang Ya Nursing School, Central South University, 410013, Changsha, Hunan, China;

关键词: Rational emotive behavior therapy;    Nursing home;    Older people;    Alexithymia;    Anxiety;    Depression;    Sleep quality;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12912-023-01449-9

 received in 2023-04-10, accepted in 2023-08-15,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAlexithymia, a subclinical cognitive-affective impairment, is prevalent in older people and increases the risk of mental disorders. There is a vast alexithymia treatment gap, with majority of older people in nursing homes lacking access to adequate mental health care. The study aimed to evaluate the effects of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) on alexithymia, anxiety, depression and sleep quality of older people in nursing homes.MethodsThis quasi-experimental study was conducted with two groups (the control group and intervention) from March to November 2021. This study enrolled 86 participants, two of whom were lost to follow-up; 42 received usual care (control group) and 42 received REBT based on usual care (intervention group) in nursing homes. The older people in both groups were evaluated at baseline (T0), within one-week post-intervention (T1), and at 3-month follow-up (T3). Generalized estimating equations were used by SPSS version 26 to assess the differential change in the outcomes between the two groups.ResultsThe intervention group shows significantly greater improvement in alexithymia than the control group at both T1 (β = -8.167, 95%CI= -10.965, -5.368, P < 0.001) and T2 (β=-4.119, 95%CI= -7.171, -1.067, P = 0.008). The two groups showed significant differences at both T1 and T2 in both difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings. Compared to the control group, the intervention group shows a significant improvement in sleep quality at T2 (β = -2.048, 95%CI=-4.004, -0.091, P = 0.040). The two groups showed significant differences at both T1 and T2 in both sleep disturbance and daytime dysfunction. For depression and anxiety, no significant differences were found between the intervention and control groups.ConclusionsREBT showed to be an effective method for improving alexithymia and sleep quality of older people in nursing homes. However, it failed to significantly alleviate anxiety and depression at least in a short-term trial. Refining this intervention may have a broader, more substantial impact on future research.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

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