Improving health care utilization, improving chronic disease utilization, health status, and adjustment in adolescents and young adults with cystic fibrosis: a preliminary report.
Study design (if review, criteria of inclusion for studies)
randomized clinical trial
Participants
Patients (n = 39) who were at least 15 years of age and diagnosed with CF participated in the intervention
Interventions
3-session written self-disclosure intervention. Participants in the intervention arm were asked to write in the health care setting about an important emotionally distressing issue of personal significance for a 20-min period of time and two additional 20-min writing episodes at the patient's home, which were prompted by telephone calls. Patients in the control condition received standard care alone.
Outcome measures
number of days patients spent in the hospital, FEV1, BMI, subjective markers of health status.
Main results
Findings revealed that the intervention resulted in a reduction of the number of days patients spent in the hospital over a 3-month period. The intervention did not have an impact on physiological (Forced Expiratory Volume and Body Mass Index) or subjective markers of health status.
Authors' conclusions
These findings extend those of Pennebaker's (cf., J. Smyth, 1998) demonstrating an effect of the written-self-disclosure intervention on health care utilization. These preliminary findings are promising and justify further investigation of the modified intervention in other chronic illness populations.