title: [The influence of medical art therapy on quality of life and compliance of medical treatment of patients with advanced heart failure].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medical art therapy (MAT) enables people who are medically ill to express their feelings through art. In heart failure (HF) depression and anxiety are common.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the influence of guided group MAT on the quality of Life and compliance to medical therapy of patients with advanced HF.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty advanced HF patients were randomly divided into two groups: ten in the intervention group (A) and ten in the control group (B). First and last visits were individual. During these visits the Ulman, (a MAT diagnostic tool), the Minnesota Living with HF and compliance questionnaires were recorded. Both groups met weekly for 6 weeks. A MAT therapist guided group A to express their feelings using art material. Group B met for a routine clinical visit only.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Baseline Ulman, compliance and Minnesota scores were similar amongst the two groups. By the end of the study, the Ulman score improved significantly in group A compared to group B (95 +/- 10 to 82 +/- 14 p = 0.0006 vs. 86 +/- 10 to 81 +/- 12 p = 0.5) as was the compliance score (29 +/- 11 to 33 +/- 13 p = 0.05 vs. 36 +/- 5 to 366 p = 0.9). In group A, the Minnesota score improved significantly in 7 patients and did not change in 3, while in group B it improved in 2, did not change in 6 and worsened in 2.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MAT improves the quality of life and compliance in advanced HF patients and it is recommended that it be integrated as part of the therapeutic arsenal in every HF clinic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petah Tikva, Israel. nogatal@bezeqint.net
authors.forename: Noga
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sela
authors.forename: Nurit
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Baruch
authors.forename: Abid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Assali
authors.forename: Mordehay
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaturi
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Battler
authors.forename: Tuvia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ben Gal
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001155:Art Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome