Group psychological therapy and its effect on, anxiety, depression and BDNF levels in kidney transplant candidates

Abstract

The objective of the present study is to describe the effect of a group intervention on the levels of anxiety and depression associated with the level of BDNF and cognitive impairment of patients who are candidates for kidney transplantationthrough a pre-experimental study. 25 adult patients of both gendersof a High Specialty Medical Unitparticipated in the study. The Beck depression and Golberg anxiety inventories and the Folstein Mini Mental State Exam were applied. At the beginning and end of the intervention, blood and urine samples were taken to analyze BDNF levels. A group intervention with a brief orientation cognitive behavioral approach was carried out. The results in the variables of anxiety (p = 0.002) and depression (p = 0.04) show significant differences before and after the interventionreducing the levels of these variables considerably; Regarding BDNF levels and cognitive impairment, no significant differences were found.This study shows the usefulness of group psychological therapies for the benefit of these patients as well as the need to carry out more studies that evaluate biological markers related to the pathologies presented.