The Effectiveness of Online Dignity Therapy on Reducing Psychological Distress among Women with Metastatic Cancer

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of individual-online dignity therapy in reducing psychological distress in women with metastatic cancers.

It was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test, follow-up design, and a control group, in block design. The statistical population was women with metastatic cancers referred to the Iranian Cancer Control Institute (MACSA) in Tehran during the summer and autumn of 2020. Thirty women were selected by a convenience sampling method and then randomly assigned to two groups of 15 in experimental and control. It also blocked participants at three levels based on the palliative performance scale. Each participant's psychological distress was assessed using the depression-anxiety-stress scale. The experimental group participated in three individual online dignity therapy sessions, each 40-60 minutes. Data were analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance in SPSS-23.

There was a significant decrease in the experimental groups’ psychological distress scores in the post-test and in follow-up (P≤0.01). Also, it was found that dignity therapy is more useful in lower levels of the palliative performance scale.

Given the findings, it is recommended that psycho-oncologists and palliative care practitioners use online dignity therapy to reduce the psychological distress of women with metastatic cancer.