The effect of psycho-educational intervention on the life quality of ‎major depressive patients referred to hospitals affiliated to Shiraz ‎University of Medical Sciences in Shiraz-Iran

Abstract

Background:

 Depression is the world’s fourth most prevalent health problem which is ‎associated with substantial mortality, direct medical cost, diminished life quality, and ‎significant physical and psychosocial impairment. This study aimed to investigate the ‎effect of psycho-educational intervention on the life quality of major depressive patients.‎

Materials and Methods:

 Sixty patients who were willing and had met the required ‎criteria for participation were selected from hospitals in Shiraz city, Iran. So 30 of the ‎patients were assigned to the experimental group and 30 others to the control group. For ‎data collection, a two part questionnaire was developed, the first part consists of 13 items ‎related to general characteristics and the second part with 36 items on life quality were ‎used. The experimental group was divided into five subgroups of 6 patients. For each ‎group, six intervention sessions were scheduled. The control group did not receive the ‎intervention. The questionnaires were completed for all subjects in the experimental and ‎control groups before and 1 month after the end of psycho-educational intervention. ‎Tabulated data were analyzed using chi-square, independent and pair T-test.‎

Results:

 The results of the study indicated that psycho-educational intervention in ‎comparison with other available treatments proved to be more effective on eight domains ‎of life quality in the experimental group. A significant difference was observed for all the ‎domains (P < 0.001).

 Conclusion:

Psycho-educational intervention can be used as an ‎auxiliary treatment in improving life quality and decreasing depression in patients ‎suffering from major depressive disorder.‎

Key words:

Depressive disorder, Iran, life quality, major