Effect of telenursing on levels of depression and anxiety in caregivers of patients with stroke: A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Background:Telenursing is a low-cost, highly accessible method that can lead to increased awareness on the principles of care, and may eventually help reduce the stress experienced by caregivers of patients with stroke. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of telenursing through phone consultation on the levels of depression and anxiety in family caregivers of patients with stroke.Materials and Methods:This was a randomized clinical trial including 152 caregivers of stroke patients discharged from Mohammad Vase'ee Hospital in Sabzevar in 2016. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling method and were randomly assigned to control (n = 76) and intervention (n = 76) groups. The intervention consisted of 32 sessions of phone consultation. Research tools included demographic characteristics form, needs assessment questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory. Data were analyzed with independent t test using SPSS, version 23.Results:Mean (SD) post-intervention anxiety scores for the intervention and the control group were statistically significant (t = 3.51, p = 0.001). However, the difference in mean depression scores after intervention was not significant (p = 0.70).Conclusions:Telenursing can be employed to facilitate the care of chronic patients as well as increase the psychological well-being of the caregivers through providing practical and specialized information.

The effect of a supportive home care program on caregiver burden with stroke patients in Iran: an experimental study

“…The results of another study showed that a multidimensional rehabilitation intervention can reduce Caregiver burden of caregivers of stroke patients. Most studies have focused on the factors affecting the caregiver burden, and few interventional studies have been performed in this area [ 28 ].…”

Interventions for Psychological Health of Stroke Caregivers: A Systematic Review

“…Otherwise, in other studies conducted by nurses or other therapists, there were no significant improvements in depression despite the use of psychological techniques (Johnston et al, 2007; Perrin et al, 2010; Bishop et al, 2014; Robinson-Smith et al, 2016; Cheng et al, 2018; Goudarzian et al, 2018) or psychoeducation as well (Grasel et al, 2005; Bakas et al, 2009, 2015; Ostwald et al, 2009; Eames et al, 2013; Hirsch et al, 2014; Cameron et al, 2015). Further studies, conducted by non-psychological operators and not using psychological techniques, did not find any significant improvement in depression (Tilling et al, 2005; Pierce et al, 2009).…”

“…Studies with significant improvements in anxiety symptoms were led by psychologists using psychological techniques (Wilz and Barskova, 2007; Ward et al, 2016) or were led by nurses still using psychological techniques such as counseling (Goudarzian et al, 2018) and problem solving (King et al, 2007).…”

“…However, some studies yielded significant results in improving stroke knowledge (Louie et al, 2006; Franzén-Dahlin et al, 2008) and eventually reducing general burden, without any significant result in main psychological outcomes, such as anxiety and depression (Burton and Gibbon, 2005; Oupra et al, 2010; Perrin et al, 2010; Kim et al, 2012; Araujo et al, 2018; Cheng et al, 2018; Mores et al, 2018). Only in one study nurse counseling lowered anxiety symptoms but not the depressive ones (Goudarzian et al, 2018). Some nurse-led interventions improved depression outcomes and most of them applied psychological techniques (King et al, 2007; Smith et al, 2012; Fens et al, 2014; Graf et al, 2017).…”

“…In the last few decades, we assisted to a growth in the number of interventions aimed at supporting stroke caregivers and improving their quality of life and well-being (e.g., Cheng et al, 2018; Goudarzian et al, 2018; Kootker et al, 2019). However, such interventions are often conducted and conceptualized from a medical-nursing perspective, involving more educational issues than psychological ones, which are too often neglected (Mores et al, 2018).…”