A comparative study of supportive group therapy and individual psychotherapy in admitted COVID-19 patients at a tertiary health-care center: The effective feasible double-blinded, randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: Earlier pieces of evidence suggest that any pandemic has an impact on the mental health of general population, so is with COVID-19. The mental health of patients during such situations needs special attention and warrants proper care and support. We hypotheses that psychological interventions have an effective outcome in overcoming this. Methods: Consenting inpatient adults (n = 55) infected with COVID-19 were randomly allocated into two groups. The participants were assessed using a semi-structured sociodemographic detail, medical history pro forma, NEWS score, and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21. In the 1st week of admission, group therapy (n = 26) and individual therapy (n = 29) sessions were delivered at an interval of 3–4 days. Results: On follow-up after a week, on comparing the groups, it was found that there was a significant difference in the mean ranks of depression and anxiety in COVID-19 patients who underwent group therapy and supportive individual therapy (P = 0.02, P = 0.03) versus (P = 0.001, P = 0.001), whereas the mean rank of stress in patients with group therapy (P = 0.33) revealed no significant difference compared to supportive individual therapy (P = 0.002). Conclusion: Our study found that group therapy was as effective as supportive individual therapy on the outcome measures of depression and anxiety in COVID-19 patients. However, in these difficult times, with shortage of health-care workers, this finding strengthens the benefits of group therapy for achieving psychological well-being in COVID-19 patients.