Integrative treatment of depression and its impact on quality of life and resilience in cancer patients

Introduction The aim of the study was to reveal the impact of the integrative treatment of depression on different domains of life quality in cancer patients, due to the increasing body of studies concerning the domains of the quality of life and resilience factors. Methods In the study were included 130 cancer patients with a comorbid depressive disorder, which followed for 6 months several therapeutic options: 76 subjects (58,5%) only antidepressants and 54 subjects (41,5%) antidepressants plus different support psychotherapies. For the evaluation we used Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and WHOQOL World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale. Statistical processing of data included the T-test (Student) for dependent samples, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Kruskall-Wallis ANOVA. The results were considered statistically significant for p<0.05, which corresponds to a 95% confidence intervals. Results and discussions After 6 months of integrative treatment the level of depression decreased from severe (54,6%) and moderate (38,5%) to mild depression in the majority of patients (59,2%), with a complete simptomatic remission in 11,6% patients. Concerning the quality of life, all the differences had strongly statistic significances (p< 0,01,) the most important enhancements being in the domains of the psychological health (86%) and physical health (73%). Conclusions Cancer associated emotional distress conduct to an important decline in all the domains of the quality of life. Integrated therapeutic interventions contributes to the enhancement in quality of life as a whole, especially in the domain of psychological well-being, recommending it as a valuable approach to increase patients resilience too.