Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Psychoeducation Program for Patients with Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) account for 0.2-3% of all cancer diagnoses and are thus considered a rare type of cancer. Severe levels of fatigue occur in 33% of patients on imatinib, but besides treatment, fatigue is also associated with psychological distress. As far as we know, only one previous study has reported on the design of a psychoeducational intervention for caregivers and patients with GIST. The current study was conducted to compare the preliminary effectiveness of an Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral stress management intervention and psychoeducation program for anxiety, depression, fatigue, and quality of life in patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). This study had an experimental pre-test post-test design with a control group. Ninety-nine patients were randomly allocated to an Internet-delivered cognitive program (n = 50) or psychoeducation control group (n = 49). Participants completed the questionnaires at three time points (pre-test, post-test, and 3-month follow-up). Twenty-seven participants completed the intervention. A significant interaction effect between groups and time was found for general fatigue [F(2, 28) = 8.2, p < 0.001, ƞ²_p = 0.25], reduced motivation [F(2, 28) = 3.5, p < 0.05, ƞ²_p = 0.12], distress [F(2, 28) = 3.4, p < 0.05, ƞ²_p = 0.12], and global health status [F(2, 28) = 3.8, p < 0.05, ƞ²_p = 0.13]. Both intervention programs showed reductions in the dimensions of fatigue and improvements in distress and dimensions of quality of life. Additional research on a larger sample size is needed to confirm the effects obtained in this study.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST); Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy; Psychoeducation program.