The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Coherent Self- Knowledge, Emotion Regulation, and Quality of Life of Hemodialysis Patients: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Hemodialysis patients are exposed to psychological risks related to health. Cognitive behavioral therapy can play an effective role in improving psychological characteristics related to health. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of determining the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on self-awareness, emotional regulation, and quality of life of hemodialysis patients in Kerman.

The present study is a quasi-experimental one with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design and a control group. The statistical population of this research was the patients of Shafa Hospital and Javad Al-Aima Clinic in Kerman in 2022. For this research 30 hemodialysis patients were selected using convenience sampling based on inclusion criteria, and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups of 15 subjects. The experimental group went under 8 sessions of 75 minutes twice a week, while the control group was held back on training. The evaluations of the participants were conducted using questionnaires of self-awareness, emotion regulation, and quality of life. The collected data were analyzed using two-way repeated measures ANOVA.

The mean scores of coherent self-knowledge, emotion regulation, and quality of life before the intervention were 26.68, 37.93, 60.27 in the cognitive behavioral therapy group and 26.67, 37.95, 59.60 in the control group (p>0.05), respectively. After the intervention, a significant increase was observed in the mean score of the investigated psychological characteristics in the cognitive behavioral therapy group compared to the control group (p<0.001).

The results of the study showed the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy intervention in the improvement of psychological characteristics in the experimental group. Therefore, this intervention can be used as a complementary treatment in hemodialysis patients.