Rosser R, Denford J, Heslop A, Kinston W, Macklin D, Minty K, Moynihan C, Muir B, Rein L, Guz A
Psychol Med. 1983 Feb;13(1):93-110. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700050108.
This paper describes a study of the outcome of psychotherapy with patients disabled by chronic obstructive airways disease giving rise to dyspnoea. Forty-three men and 22 women with severe COAD were randomly allocated for 8 weeks to one of three types of psychotherapy or to an untreated control group, and were followed up six months later. The group treated by a medical nurse without training in psychotherapy experienced sustained relief of dyspnoea but tended to undergo less psychodynamic change; psychiatric symptoms were reduced in those receiving supportive, but not analytical, psychotherapy. The psychosomatic mechanisms involved and the implications for medical and nursing practice and for liaison psychotherapy are discussed.
