title: Effectiveness of an occupational therapy intervention in reducing emotional distress in informal caregivers of hip fracture patients: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effectiveness of an occupational therapy intervention program in reducing emotional distress in informal caregivers of hip fracture patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Single-blind randomized controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  A public Trauma and Rehabilitation Hospital in Granada, Spain.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 186 caregivers and their care recipients with hip fracture (93 in each group) were allocated to an intervention group or a control group using a block system.
  
  
  METHODS
  An occupational therapy intervention during patient hospitalization focused on patient handling by caregivers and ergonomic treatment for both.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Goldberg General Health Questionnaire was used to measure emotional distress and psychological well-being. The Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to measure caregiver affective illness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among informal caregivers, emotional distress decreased to a greater extent in the intervention group than in the control group from the first assessment to the six-month follow-up (intervention group: 4.16 (SD 4.57) to 2.81 (SD 2.93); control group: 4.61 (SD 4.57) to 4.24 (SD 4.30)), showing significant differences at the first, third and sixth month. As regards anxiety levels, significant differences were only found at the third month (1.54 (SD 2.09) vs. 2.35 (SD 2.53) in the intervention and control groups, respectively (p < 0.05)), although the intervention group always showed lower levels from the first month. Although depression levels decreased in both groups, the decrease was also greater in the intervention group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Occupational therapy training for caregivers of hip fracture patients helps to significantly reduce emotional distress, anxiety and depression in caregivers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain lydia@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Lydia M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Martín-Martín
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valenza-Demet
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain Department of Occupational Therapy, Virgen de las Nieves Hospital, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Patrocinio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ariza-Vega
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valenza
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Granada, Granada, Spain Department of Physical Therapy, San Cecilio Hospital, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Castellote-Caballero
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Granada, Spain CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada, Granada, Spain.
authors.forename: José Juan
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Moleón
keywords: Caregiver; emotional distress; hip fracture; occupational therapy