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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 May 19;18(10):5439.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18105439.

Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Group Psychological Intervention Program in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Randomized Trial

Purificación Bernabeu  1 , Carlos van-der Hofstadt  1 , Jesús Rodríguez-Marín  2 , Ana Gutierrez  3 , Miguel Raúl Alonso  1 , Pedro Zapater  4 , Rodrigo Jover  3 , Laura Sempere  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effectiveness of a Multicomponent Group Psychological Intervention Program in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Randomized Trial

Purificación Bernabeu et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

(1) Background: Stress, anxiety, and depression have been identified as factors that influence the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The main aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of group multicomponent cognitive-behavioral therapy at reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, and improving quality of life and the clinical course of the disease. (2) Methods: A total of 120 patients were evaluated using the General Perceived Stress Scale, Scale of Stress Perceived by the Disease, the anxiety and depression scale, and quality of life questionnaire for patients with IBD. Disease activity was measured using the Mayo Index for ulcerative colitis and CDAI for Crohn's disease, as well as the number of relapses self-reported by patients. Patients were randomized to receive group multicomponent cognitive-behavioral therapy or treatment as usual. (3) Results: The psychological intervention reduced stress (EAE: 45.7 ± 8.8 vs. 40.6 ± 8.4, p = 0.0001; PSS: 28.0 ± 7.3 vs. 25.1 ± 5.9, p = 0.001) and improved quality of life (164.2 ± 34.3 vs. 176.2 ± 28.0, p = 0.001). An improvement was found in the number of relapses self-reported by patients (0.2 relapses/patient vs. control 0.7 relapses/patient; p = 0.027). No differences were found in disease activity indexes. (4) Conclusions: Psychological therapy was associated with improved stress, quality of life and with a decrease in the number of relapses self-reported by patients. Clinical trial registration number: NCT02614014.

Keywords: disease activity; inflammatory bowel disease; psychological intervention.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that no conflict of interest exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow-chart of the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
MCBT Program.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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