Objective: A single blinded RCT was conducted to develop and test the efficacy of a telephonic psychotherapy on PD Patients. PD patients bound by movement and commuting restrictions have a limited access to healthcare facilities. The collateral damage caused to the QoL is worsened by lack of access to in-person psychological care. The objective was to re-negotiate the terms of psychological healthcare with the use of information technology for PD patients

Background: The prevalence of PD has doubled in the past 25 years. In 2019, PD resulted in 5.8 million DALYs, an increase of 81% since 2000, and caused nearly 329000 deaths, an increase of over 100% since 2000 [1]. The psychotherapy module aimed to address motor, cognitive and psycho-social symptoms caused by the neurodegenerative condition. It involved cognitive retraining exercises and lifestyle recommendations. The culture-specific intervention focused on caregiver involvement, shift in family dynamics and shift of locus of control of patients to within themselves

Method: The 6 week intervention was developed in three phases. A nation-wide, zone stratified survey was conducted to gauge the problems faced by PD patients and their families. This was followed by thematic analysis of physical, cognitive, behavioral and emotional disturbances found in a systematic review and a focal group discussion among six experts. To test the efficacy, a total of 141 patients were screened, out of which 47 were recruited and randomized into IG and CG. The domains of anxiety, stress,orientation, memory, comprehension, attention, vigilance, language,executive functioning & QoL were assessed

Results: The psychotherapeutic intervention brought about a statistically significant improvement in the domains of Stress (p=0.001) &Anxiety (p=o.o21), Attention & Orientation (p=0.043) and Memory (p=0.003) in the IG. Improvement was also seen in Executive functioning (EF) & Calculation (p=0.688), however, this was not statistically significant. Improvement in performance on EF suggests an effect on abilities of mental set shifting, processing speed, selective attention capacity, and interference inhibition

Conclusion: Telephonic psychotherapeutic intervention was beneficial for Cognitive and psychosocial domains of QoL in PD patients. Telephonic psychotherapeutic intervention was beneficial for Cognitive and psychosocial domains of QoL in PD patients

References: [1] World Health Organisation, 2023

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/to-develop-and-study-the-efficacy-of-telephonic-psychotherapy-on-the-global-neuropsychological-functioning-of-pd-patients-an-rct/