The Effect of Peer Support with Telecommunication on Subjective Well-being in Colorectal Patients: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: Colorectal cancer has a widespread impact on the psychological and physical dimensions of patients and threatens their subjective well-being. Peer support is an effective strategy to increase subjective well-being in cancer patients. This study aims to evaluate the impact of peer support through telecommunications on the subjective well-being of colorectal cancer patients.

Materials: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 60 patients with colorectal cancer in Mashhad, Iran from November 2018 to April 2019. Two educational hospitals were selected through random sampling from four educational hospitals. Then, participants were randomly selected from the list of patients in each group using a block randomization method. The intervention group received the peer support program by using telephone and virtual social networks for a month. The data were collected by the Warwick-Edinburgh Subjective Well-being Scale before and after the intervention and were then analyzed through independent t-test, paired t-test, and chi-squared test using SPSS version 16. The level of significant was set at P<0.05.

Results: Before the intervention, the mean subjective well-being score of the patients did not show significant difference in the intervention and control groups, respectively (27.8±5.4 vs. 27.6±6.3, P=0.619). However, after the intervention, the mean subjective well-being score of the intervention group showed a significant increase compared to the control group (49.16±3.3 vs. 26.6±6.1, P<0.001).

Conclusion: This randomized controlled trial shows that peer support interventions through telecommunication can improve the subjective well-being of patients with colorectal cancer. Therefore, this method can be used as an effective palliative approach to promote patients' subjective well-being. Trail Registration Number IRCT20190123042480N1.