The Effectiveness of Cognitive Therapy Intervention on the Mental Health of Patients with Hypertension

 Patients with hypertension (HTN) are likely to be threatened by mental health issues like anxiety and depression, which can limit their personal and social lives. Cognitive therapy is one of the proposed treatments for these issues. The present research aims to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive therapy intervention on the mental health of patients with HTN.

 The current clinical trial study was examined by considering the pre- and post-test stages and the control group. In 2022, the statistical population contained 861 patients with HTN referred to Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq. A simple random sampling procedure chose a statistical sample of 120 patients and separated them into two experimental and control groups (60 people per group). For data analysis, the independent t-test and the paired t-test were utilized in SPSS software; moreover, P-value was less than 0.05.

 No significant difference was observed between the both groups regarding general health and its subscales in the pre-test stage (P > 0.05), while in the post-test stage, there was a significant difference between the both groups (P < 0.001). In addition, there was a significant difference in general health in the experimental group between the pre-test (60.47 ± 9.17) and post-test (45.55 ± 8.43) (P < 0.001). In the control group, there was no significant difference between the pre- and post-test stages (P > 0.05).

 Cognitive therapy intervention has appropriate effectiveness on the mental health of patients with HTN and reduces physical symptoms, anxiety, social dysfunction, and depression.