An acceptance-based healthy lifestyle programme for community-dwelling patients with pneumoconiosis: A waitlist pilot randomised controlled trial

Background Respiratory symptoms such as cough and shortness of breath are prevalent among patients with pneumoconiosis. These symptoms reduce their engagement in daily activities and induce psychological distress.Research question Did a 6-week acceptance-based healthy lifestyle programme reduce psychological inflexibility (primary outcome) and enhance the health outcomes among community-dwelling patients with pneumoconiosis?Study design and methods A two-arm, prospective, multicenter, waitlist pilot randomised controlled trial was conducted. Patients with pneumoconiosis were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or waitlist group at a 1:1 ratio, with intervention group receiving the programme first. The intervention consisted of four biweekly interactive sessions on integrating acceptance-based components into pneumoconiosis management. Psychological inflexibility and health outcomes were assessed at baseline, Week 6, and Week 14 by trained research assistants. A generalized estimating equations model was used to examine the effects of the intervention effect between groups.Results Eighty patients were recruited and randomly assigned to the two groups. Compared to the waitlist group, the participants in the intervention group showed significant reduction in psychological inflexibility (β = -5.83, p = 0.002) and improvement in exercise self-efficacy (β = 11.68, p = 0.007) at Week 6, and reduction in body weight (β = -1.09, p < 0.001) at Week 14. No significant differences were observed for other outcomes. Moderate effect size was noted on the outcomes of psychological inflexibility and exercise self-efficacy at Week 6.Conclusion The integration of acceptance-based components into pneumoconiosis management may reduce psychological inflexibility and promote engagement in exercise.