Effect of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing on death anxiety of gastrointestinal cancer patients in Qazvin hospital in 2018: A randomized clinical trial

Death anxiety is one of the most common problems in cancer patients. It is also possible to treat death anxiety by the method of desensitization through eye movements and reprocessing. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of desensitization with eye movement and reprocessing on anxiety of death in patients with gastrointestinal cancer.

This study was a randomized clinical trial in which 66 patients with gastrointestinal cancer in Qazvin hospital in 2019 (Irtan) were selected by convenience sampling method. In order to assign it into two groups of 33 test and control individuals, 4 random block methods were used.The experimental group received 8 min sessions of 45-90 min of allergic desensitization education. After educating the experimental group, the same treatment was done for the control group. Demographic questionnaires and Templar death anxiety questionnaires were used for data collection.

The results showed that in the control group the mean score of anxiety increased from 50.81±66 5.66 to 52.1±3.88, which was not statistically significant (P=0.33). However, in the experimental group the mean scores of anxiety before intervention were 50.66±5.07, which was significantly reduced by 46.09±3 3.6 after intervention (P<0.001).

According to the results, desensitization using eye movements and reprocessing can be used as an effective method to reduce death anxiety in patients with gastrointestinal cancer.