Dignity Therapy for Terminally Ill Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Dignity Therapy for Terminally Ill Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

We conducted a randomized, controlled trial of dignity therapy for terminally ill patients with the aim of reducing dignity-related distress and demoralization and improving spiritual well-being.

Sample size assessment: A recent meta-analysis showed that dignity interventions reach on average effect sizes of -1.01 on emotional distress (Ho and Shin, 2014). Power analysis showed that with an alpha of 0.05 and a power of 0.80, we needed a sample of 26 participants to detect effect sizes of 1.01 and higher.

Plan for missing data: Occasional missing values were imputed by calculating, for each participant, the average score for each subscale and then replaced.

Statistical analysis plan: We conducted a 2 (group) X 3 (time [pre-treatment vs. post-treatment vs follow-up]) repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) for a set of variables

Inclusion Criteria:

• age over 18,
• diagnosis of life-threatening disease with a prognosis of six months or less,
• no evidence of dementia (as determined by retrospective assessments),
• the ability to read and speak Italian and provide written informed consent,
• the availability for six to seven research encounters over the period of three weeks

Exclusion Criteria:

• psychotic illness,
• dementia and severe neurological impairment