Research on effects of psychological intervention on quality of life of cancer patients and their spouses

Objective: To evaluate the effects of psychological intervention on the quality of life of cancer patients and their spouses. Methods: The data was collected from 120 cancer patient/spouse dyads in Dagang Hospital. The patient/spouse dyads were randomly divided into interventional group (64 dyads) and comparison group(56 dyads). The Symptom Checklist-90 scales and the SF-36 scales were used to measure the levels of psychological health and the quality of life in 116 married couples within a week. The routinely nursing was given to the comparison group, while both psychological intervention and routinely nursing were given to the interventional group. After 6 weeks the reappraisal about the psychological health and quality of life was completed. The effects of psychological interventions were assessed. Results: 1) Both patients and their spouses reported significantly lower scores on SCL-90 subscales. 2) The low scores of patients on SF-36 indicated the decreased quality of life in patients. The spouses reported the significantly lower scores on subscales of social function, vitality, role emotional and metal health. 3) The factors affecting patients' quality of life included stage, patients' depression, spouses' anxiety, depression, patients' total scores of SCL-90 and family income. Conclusions: The patients and their spouses have psychological disorders and poor quality of life, which was caused by mental aberration. The intervention should be offered to both cancer patients and their spouses to improve their quality of life.