Effectiveness of group logo-therapy program on existential anxiety among patients with metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is one of the most common diseases both in Iran and in the world, which has been widely reported to be associated with anxiety and distress in the metabolic syndrome group. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of an educational group logotherapy on existential anxiety in patients with metabolic syndrome. This study was a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest with a control group. The study population consisted of adult women aged between 25 to 60 years old with Metabolic Syndrome that referred to the health center of Semnan County in 2018. The sample included 30 (15 for each group) patients with Metabolic Syndrome who were selected as an available and randomly recruits to each of the groups. Then, the participants in the experimental group participated in 10 sessions of 90 min of Group Logo-Therapy Program, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The instrument for gathering data was the Existential Anxiety Questionnaire. To analyze the data, SPSS.v21 software and statistical tests such as MANCOVA and paired t-test were applied. The results indicated that the group logo-therapy program had a statistically significant impact on components of meaning anxiety and death anxiety, but no difference between control and experimental group in term of loneliness anxiety and responsive anxiety was observed. Also, the results indicated that there was stability at the follow-up stage for death anxiety and loneliness anxiety. According to the results, the group logic training program has been effective in changing some of the variable dimensions of existential anxiety and has increased the ability of individuals to face logic and consequently responsibility for life. And, considering the transient existence of the world in place of insecurity and isolation, it calls for human effort and activity, so it is recommended to use this intervention for people with existential anxiety.