Shahzadi, S., Ali, J. · International Journal of Social Sciences Bulletin · 2024
Compared with standard care, the EFT group showed significantly greater reductions in depression and greater improvements in quality of life from baseline to post-intervention, with effects sustained at follow-up (all p<.01); caregiver burden also decreased more in the EFT group (p<.01).
If this holds up in larger trials, picture a stroke survivor in rehabilitation, and the exhausted family member caring for them at home, both catching a break, better mood for the patient, less strain on the caregiver, from a low-cost technique either of them could learn and administer themselves alongside standard rehab, no extra clinician visits required. In lower-resource health systems where mental health support after stroke is often an afterthought, that combination could matter a great deal.
Since caregiver burden dropped alongside patient depression, an interesting next study would track both people at once, patient and caregiver, with cortisol, sleep actigraphy, and heart rate variability, to see whether tapping's calming effect ripples through the whole caregiving relationship rather than just the patient. A dose-response design, and a version delivered by rehabilitation staff at scale across more stroke units, would help clarify how much practice is needed and whether the effect holds in larger, more diverse samples.
| Design | Randomized trial |
|---|---|
| Participants | 100 people |
| Population | ischemic stroke patients recruited from five rehabilitation hospitals in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan |
| Comparison group | standard care |
| Outcome measures | Beck Depression Inventory-II (Urdu; BDI-II-U), WHO Quality of Life scale (Urdu; WHOQOL-U), Burden Scale for Family Caregivers-short (BSFC-s) |
| Journal | International Journal of Social Sciences Bulletin |
| Year | 2024 |
| Country | Pakistan |
| Language | English |
| Method | EFT / tapping |
| Publication type | Study / trial |
| Verification | ✓ Confirmed against the primary source |
Shahzadi, S., & Ali, J. (2024). Efficacy of Emotional Freedom Technique in reducing depression and improving quality of life among stroke survivors in Pakistan: A randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Social Sciences Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17255690
This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Depression · Other Physical Conditions
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