Self-injection anxiety training: a treatment for patients unable to self-inject injectable medications.

Abstract

Anxiety and phobia frequently prevent patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) from self-injecting their injectable disease-modifying medications. This small, randomized, controlled trial tested the efficacy of a six-session nurse-administered programme to teach self-injection to patients with MS, who, due to anxiety or phobia, were unable to self-inject their injectable medications. Participants were 30 patients with MS who were prescribed interferon beta-1a (IFNbeta-1a) administered via weekly intramuscular injection. All patients were unable to self-inject due to anxiety or phobia. Patients were randomized to either the six-session Self-Injection Anxiety Therapy (SIAT) or a control telephone support condition modelled on the support programme offered by the manufacturer of IFNbeta-1a. Four patients dropped out of SIAT while three dropped out of the control condition. Eight patients receiving SLAT compared to three control patients, were able to self-inject after six weeks of treatment. SIAT patients were significantly more likely to achieve self-injection at treatment cessation, compared to telephone control patients, in completer analyses (p =0.022), however, this only reached a trend in intent-to-treat analyses (p =0.058). These findings suggest that SIAT is a potentially valuable intervention to teach self-injection skills to injection phobic and anxious patients, and should be investigated more thoroughly in a larger clinical trial.

• Authors: David C Mohr, Darcy Cox, Natalia Merluzzi
• Journal: Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) (Mult Scler) Vol. 11 Issue 2 Pg. 182-5 (Apr 2005) ISSN: 1352-4585 [Print] England
• PMID: 15794392 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Adjuvants, Immunologic
• Interferon-beta
• Interferon beta-1a

Topics

• Adjuvants, Immunologic (administration & dosage)
• Adolescent
• Adult
• Anxiety (nursing, psychology)
• Female
• Humans
• Injections, Intramuscular (methods, nursing, psychology)
• Interferon beta-1a
• Interferon-beta (administration & dosage)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Multiple Sclerosis (drug therapy, nursing, psychology)
• Phobic Disorders (nursing, psychology)
• Self Administration (methods, nursing, psychology)