Article

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness of an occupational therapy intervention
program in reducing emotional distress in informal caregivers of hip fracture
patients. DESIGN: Single-blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING: A public
Trauma and Rehabilitation Hospital in Granada, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: A total of
186 caregivers and their care recipients with hip fracture
(93 in each group)
were allocated to an intervention group or a control group using a block system.
INTERVENTION: An occupational therapy intervention during patient hospitalization
focused on patient handling by caregivers and ergonomic treatment for both. MAIN
MEASURES: The Goldberg General Health Questionnaire was used to measure emotional
distress and psychological well-being. The Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale
was used to measure caregiver affective illness. RESULTS: Among informal
caregivers, emotional distress decreased to a greater extent in the intervention
group than in the control group from the first assessment to the six-month
follow-up (intervention group: 4.16 (SD 4.57) to 2.81 (SD 2.93); control group:
4.61 (SD 4.57) to 4.24 (SD 4.30)), showing significant differences at the first,
third and sixth month. As regards anxiety levels, significant differences were
only found at the third month (1.54 (SD 2.09) vs. 2.35 (SD 2.53) in the
intervention and control groups, respectively (p < 0.05)), although the
intervention group always showed lower levels from the first month. Although
depression levels decreased in both groups, the decrease was also greater in the
intervention group. CONCLUSION: Occupational therapy training for caregivers of
hip fracture patients helps to significantly reduce emotional distress, anxiety
and depression in caregivers.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS