A psychological intervention to improve quality of life and reduce psychological distress in adults awaiting kidney transplantation

Abstract Background: Australia has one of the highest rates of asthma prevalence worldwide, with almost one in 10 children affected. The mental health and wellbeing of asthmatic children is reported to be significantly more impacted than non-asthmatic peers; affecting both asthma management and their overall quality of life. The relationship between asthma and psychological distress is likely bi-directional, therefore requiring an intervention that addresses both psychological and physiological factors. Technology-based psychological interventions provide a potential solution that may increase engagement with treatment amongst adolescents. In particular, augmented reality (AR) is a novel technology that can be tailored to individual populations and has been proven effective in the management of other conditions. No evidence exists currently on the feasibility of AR in the management of psychological wellbeing within the asthmatic community.Methods: An 80-page workbook has been developed based on best-practice asthma guidelines and through consultation with field experts in Psychology and Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, AR tools have been developed following a needs assessment, and a bespoke smartphone app has been developed by Portal Australia. Forty (n=40) young people aged 13-17 years with persistent asthma will be recruited from the Respiratory Department at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Participants will be required to download a smartphone application (YOLO de-stress) and will be encouraged to use the app for a month. Participants will be required to complete the Youth Asthma-related Anxiety Scale, Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Asthma Control Questionnaire at baseline and one-month post-intervention. Data analysis will be descriptive, with counts and percentages for categorical data, and means and standard deviations for continuous data compared between baseline and follow-up. For continuous outcome variables mixed effects linear models will be used. For other outcome measures mixed effects generalized linear models will be used. Discussion: This study will explore the feasibility of AR tools to aid delivery of psychological intervention to manage symptoms of elevated psychological distress among young people with asthma, and inform development of a fully powered RCT. Trial registration: This project was prospectively registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12620001109998

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P–510 Psychological distress and quality of life in infertile women attending Infertility clinic at tertiary care center: a pilot study

Human Reproduction ◽

10.1093/humrep/deab130.509 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 36 (Supplement_1) ◽

Author(s):

C Thyagaraju ◽

A Naidu

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Sample Size ◽

Study Design ◽

Psychological Intervention ◽

Dropout Rate ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Infertile Couples

Abstract Study question What are the levels of psychological distress (anxiety and depression) and quality of life faced by infertile couple presenting with or undergoing treatment for infertility? Summary answer The levels of psychological distress and quality of life seems to be affected more in women than their husbands and may require psychological intervention. What is known already Infertility is a biopsychosocial crisis which can cause psychological distress in the form of depression and anxiety, and can impair quality of life .It often has a stressful impact on relationships and can affect a couple’s sex life. Most of the time these aspects are not explored and only medical and surgical treatment is offered depending on the cause. Assessing the psychological distress and quality of life contributes to decrease the stress and helps to improve the outcome of management by improving the relationship of the individual to achieve pregnancy. These women need psychological support, in the form of counselling. Study design, size, duration Cross-sectional study .100 infertile couples attending fertility clinics. Previous data indicate that the mean infertility specific QoL in infertile couples is 54.39 for females (nd 60.63 for males .Thus, a minimum sample size of 77 samples per group is needed to be able to reject the null hypothesis with probability 80% power. With a 30% dropout rate, the sample size is 100 samples per group. The study was conducted from Jan 2018 to June 2019. Participants/materials, setting, methods Infertile couples aged between 25 to 40years attending the Infertility outpatient clinic in OBG department, JIPMER, Pondicherry, India were recruited in to the study. Presence of a pre-existing major medical illness and presence of a major psychiatric illness were excluded from the study. After written consent, the severity of depression and anxiety was measured using the Hospitol Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS Scale) and QoL was assessed with the Fertility Quality of Life (FertiQoL) questionnaire. Main results and the role of chance The average ages (SD) of men and women were 33.6 (4.29) and 31.3(4.03) years, respectively. Women reported higher levels of depression (p < 0.001) and anxiety (p < 0.001) as compared to their husbands. Depression and anxiety was noted more in women who were more than 32year age and prolonged duration of infertility. There was a significant association between depression, gender, duration of marriage and duration of infertility among the infertile couples.78% women felt that their attention and concentration were impaired and 63% responded that they cannot move towards their life goals . Around 72% and 60% felt drained out and lost, respectively. 57% women had fluctuant thoughts like hope and despair. More women felt were socially isolated and uncomfortable with social situations than men. 45% reported social pressure and 52% were felt angry because of fertility problem. Only 24% women were satisfied with support from friends and 37% of their family can understand them. Overall only 51% of the participants gave positive response to fertiqol questions. The total FertiQoL scores were significantly higher in the husbands than the wives (p < 0.001). Poor Qol were significantly associated with male cause of infertility (p = 0.004), primary infertility (p = 0.022) and previous history of receiving multiple treatments (p = 0.020). Limitations, reasons for caution The main limitation of the study is the cross-section study design which cannot detect exact cause of psychological distress and small sample size from single center which did not define entire population. Self reported questionairre was more subjective 5han objective which might be counfounding. Wider implications of the findings: Couples going through infertility have a varying degree of emotional moods swinging between anxiety and depression impairing QoL.,women being affected more than men.Counselor who can empathize with the couple should form an integral part of the infertility team providing psychological intervention along with infertility treatment. Trial registration number NA

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Piloting Psychology Annual Reviews as a Method of Measuring Psychological Distress and Quality of Life in Paediatric Renal Transplant Patients

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2016/1685362 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jade Bamford ◽

Lucy Wirz

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Renal Transplantation ◽

Renal Transplant ◽

Psychological Intervention ◽

National Level ◽

Annual Review ◽

Paediatric Renal Transplantation ◽

The Uk

Psychosocial distress and poorer quality of life after renal transplantation are common in children and young people. This has implications for medication adherence and survival. Posttransplant psychology annual reviews were introduced in one Paediatric Renal Service in the UK as a means of measuring psychological distress and quality of life, as well as facilitating identification of patients and parents/carers who would benefit from psychological intervention. The process of completing posttransplant psychology annual reviews is discussed within this paper. The posttransplant psychology annual review appointments identified patients experiencing depression and/or anxiety and problems in quality of life. These assessments have led to appropriate referrals to, and engagement with, the renal psychology service as well as with community tier 3 child and adolescent mental health services. The posttransplant psychology annual review will continue to be completed at this UK site and discussions will be undertaken with other paediatric renal transplant services to consider whether these could be introduced at a national level to facilitate collection of longitudinal data regarding long-term psychosocial impact of paediatric renal transplantation and its effect on quality of life.

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