ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the impact of Emotional Freedom Techniques on anxiety,depression and selfefficacy of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.Methods Totally 120 elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated with anxiety and depression were randomly divided into the experimental group(n=60) and the control group(n=60).All patients received routine drug therapy and diabetic education,and patients in the experimental group performed Emotional Freedom Techniques for 4 weeks,10～15 min per time,3 times per day.Two groups were evaluated by Self-Rating Anxiety Scale,Self-Rating Depression Scale and Diabetes Self-Efficacy Scale before and after the intervention.Results The total scores of SAS and SDS in the experimental group after intervention were significantly lower than those before intervention and in the control group(P＜0.01).The total scores of DSES in the experimental group were significantly higher than those before intervention and in the control group (P＜0.01).Conclusion Emotional Freedom Techniques can effectively reduce anxiety,depression and improve self-efficacy of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.