Intervention for Improving Psychological Distress in Dialysis (iDiD)

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Intervention for improving psychological distress in dialysis (iDiD) Feasibility two arm randomised controlled trial study of an online cognitive behavioural therapy intervention

• IRAS ID

  165875

• Contact name

  Joseph Chilcot

• Sponsor organisation

  King's College London

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 10 months, 28 days

• Research summary

  Psychological distress is common in people with end-stage renal failure (ESRF). It affects approximately 39% of people whose ESRF is managed using dialysis treatments. The safety and effectiveness of drug treatments (i.e. anti-depressants) for managing distress in ESRF is unknown. Therefore psychological treatments offer an alternative. Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy used to treat depression and anxiety. Traditionally CBT is delivered face-to-face with a therapist but this requires attendance at extra health care appointments . This is particularly an issue for haemodialysis patients who already face considerable treatment burden (3-5 hours dialysis sessions, three times per week). Access to an online CBT website that patients work through at their own pace offers a pragmatic solution. This study seeks to test the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of online CBT with (intervention arm) and without therapist support (control arm) to manage psychological distress in ESRF. The acceptability of the website to patients will also be explored.

  A total of 60 participants will be recruited from secondary care haemodialysis units at Guy’s and St Thomas NHS trust. Participants will be eligible for the study if they have mild to moderately severe symptoms of distress. Participants have a 50:50 chance of being randomly allocated to receive either: i) the self-help website with three 30 minute telephone support calls (intervention arm) or ii) the self-help website without telephone support calls (control arm). The website has seven online modules that participants are encouraged to complete weekly. The modules focus on education about ESRF and psychological distress and practical skill development to improve ways of coping with psychological distress. Participants will complete self-report measures of mood, beliefs about their illness, and their level of health service utilisation before using the website and 12 weeks after access to the website.

• REC name

  London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  14/LO/1934

• Date of REC Opinion

  15 Dec 2014

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion