Effects of Transpersonal Brief Psychotherapy on general state of health and quality of life in patients with Crohn's disease

Abstract

Introduction Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic illness with continuous and longstanding treatment, which affects general state of health and life quality of patients.Objectives Evaluating the effects of Transpersonal Brief Psychotherapy (TBP) on general state of health and life quality of patients with CD.Methods Eleven people diagnosed with CD of both sexes and aged between 25 and 50 years old have been evaluated. The clinical method was used and the procedure consisted of treatment with TBP and data collection before and after psychotherapy. In data collection, the following instruments were used: Sociodemographic Questionnaire (SDQ), Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI), Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), with descriptive analysis of results and the statistical methodology with Wilcoxon test.Results The procedure turned out to be effective to all instruments (p < 0.05) and the most significant result was in relation to general state of health (−40.4%) and life quality (35.3%). The disease activity has decreased by 38.1% on CDAI.Conclusion TBP has brought meaningful benefits to patients with CD, influencing the clinical picture, with reduction of the severity of the disease and, consequently, it has improved their general state of health and life quality.