The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy in quality of life and blood pressure index of hemodialysis patients

Dialysis patients are prone to various complications of trhe disease such as physical, economic, social, and psychological problems. The current study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on quality of life and blood pressure in hemodialysis patients.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest design with control group and a 3-month follow-up. The statistical population of this study included 30 hemodialysis patients referred to Loghman Hospital in Tehran in 2019. They were selected using purposive sampling and divided into experimental (15 people) and control (15 people) groups. The experimental group underwent acceptance and commitment therapy (eight sessions of 90 minutes), but the control group received no intervention and remained on the waiting list. Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form (KDQOL-SF™ 1.3) and blood pressure index were used to collect information.

The results showed that acceptance and commitment has a significant impact on the quality of life and blood pressure index of hemodialysis patients and the results were stable in the follow-up period (p<0.05).

In summary, the results showed that acceptance  commitment therapy has an effect on increasing the quality of life and reducing blood pressure in hemodialysis patients. Therefore, in addition to prescribing medicines, psychological interventions such as acceptance and commitment therapy are recommended for these patients.