[The influence of medical art therapy on quality of life and compliance of medical treatment of patients with advanced heart failure].

Medical art therapy (MAT) enables people who are medically ill to express their feelings through art. In heart failure (HF) depression and anxiety are common. To evaluate the influence of guided group MAT on the quality of Life and compliance to medical therapy of patients with advanced HF. Twenty advanced HF patients were randomly divided into two groups: ten in the intervention group (A) and ten in the control group (B). First and last visits were individual. During these visits the Ulman, (a MAT diagnostic tool), the Minnesota Living with HF and compliance questionnaires were recorded. Both groups met weekly for 6 weeks. A MAT therapist guided group A to express their feelings using art material. Group B met for a routine clinical visit only. Baseline Ulman, compliance and Minnesota scores were similar amongst the two groups. By the end of the study, the Ulman score improved significantly in group A compared to group B (95 +/- 10 to 82 +/- 14 p = 0.0006 vs. 86 +/- 10 to 81 +/- 12 p = 0.5) as was the compliance score (29 +/- 11 to 33 +/- 13 p = 0.05 vs. 36 +/- 5 to 366 p = 0.9). In group A, the Minnesota score improved significantly in 7 patients and did not change in 3, while in group B it improved in 2, did not change in 6 and worsened in 2. MAT improves the quality of life and compliance in advanced HF patients and it is recommended that it be integrated as part of the therapeutic arsenal in every HF clinic.