Brief Family Therapy (BFT) for the Treatment of Psychosomatic Symptoms in Rwanda
Condition: Patient Engagement
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Mental health is fundamental part of the human being worldwide taken as the driver of all
      daily activities of the people. Psychosomatic disorders are the psychological diseases that
      are the burden in mental health worldwide. These diseases characterized by the medically
      unexplained symptomatology (MUS) are considered as a comprehensive, interdisciplinary
      framework for assessment of psychological factors affecting individual vulnerability, as well
      as course and outcome of illness; biopsychosocial consideration of patient care in clinical
      practice; specialist interventions to integrate psychological therapies in the prevention,
      treatment, and rehabilitation of medical disease. This psychosomatic symptomatology is highly
      prevalent in developing countries. Prior studies stated that Brief family therapy (BFT) is an
      effective for MUS. Some possible reasons could be solving conflicts and interpersonal
      problems by means of training certain skills such as problem solving, developing
      relationships with others, effective coping, assertiveness and positive thinking. This
      quasi-experimental design investigates whether BFT can reduce psychosomatic symptoms in
      Kibungo referral hospital of Eastern Province, Rwanda. Experimental group enroll 60 patients
      who will be followed up during 2 months. Control group enroll 60 patients. Participants from
      experimental group will attend 8 sessions of BFT. Statistical analyses will be performed
      using the SPSS software version 22. As recommended by the declaration of Helsinki,
      confidentiality and voluntariness were ensured. Informed consents were obtained from the
      participants. Paired-samples t-test will be used for assessing the means differences between
      two groups before and after the BFT. 95% of confidence intervals and 5% of statistical
      significance are applied. In the baseline, sociodemographic questionnaire and psychometric
      tools will be provided. The psychometric tools will be used in the baseline and at the end of
      BFT sessions.
    

Detailed description: 
      Background and study aims Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) is a diagnosis given to people
      with long-term physical problems that do not match any recognised medical conditions.
      Psychosomatic symptoms are physical problems such as pain that are a result of- or made worse
      by- emotional stress or depression. In some cases, the body's immune system may be weakened
      by severe and/or chronic stress. Psychosomatic symptoms are common and can greatly impact
      quality of life. There are not many treatments for psychosomatic symptoms, and treatment of
      these symptoms are not prioritized as their cause is unexplained by modern medicine.

      Aim of the study This study aims to investigate whether a brief family therapy program can
      reduce psychosomatic symptoms in Kibungo referral hospital of Eastern Province, Rwanda.

      Who can participate? Adults diagnosed with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) What does the
      study involve? Patients transferred to the participating centre for the treatment of
      psychosomatic symptoms were treated with either Brief Family Therapy (BFT) or a control
      treatment for 2 months.

      Participants were allocated to one of the two groups, with an equal chance of being in either
      group. At the start of the study, all participants were provided with questionnaires for
      assessing their baseline characteristics and their expectations about the treatment. The
      participants were also be asked to complete questionnaires about their psychosomatic symptoms
      and health at the start and at the end of the study. What are the possible benefits and risks
      of participating? The benefits of participating were psychological support provided by BFT.
      Benefits will be explained to participants and then provided the consent form for
      participating in the research.

      They were also promised that they could withdraw at any time and no asked any reason about
      their participation. Privacy and confidentiality were respected in this study for protecting
      participants. No risks are anticipated from participation in this study.

      Where is the study run from? The study run from University of Rwanda (Rwanda) and was
      conducted in the medical setting.
    

Intervention name(s): Brief Family Therapy (BFT)
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Patients transferred to the hospital for the treatment of psychosomatic symptoms was randomized (1:1) to receive either Brief Family Therapy (BFT) or a control treatment. Some participants randomized to the BFT arm receive a combination of chemotherapy and BFT and others receive only BFT. BFT comprises 10 sessions using a generic model of problem formation and resolution. This psychotherapy is useful for treating individual, couple, and family problems. Its broad applicability is based on its view that the client's complaint is the problem, not a symptom of something else BFT views behavior, especially a client's problematic behavior, as a function of interaction with other people. After randomization, all participants were asked to complete questionnaires about their psychosomatic symptoms and health at baseline, at the end of the intervention (at 4 months).
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Psychosomatic symptom; Anxiety; Brief Family Therapy; Session