The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment-Based Therapy on Acceptance of Pain in Female Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

 Aims and background: There is ample evidence that pain is a common problem in multiple sclerosis patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance-based therapy and commitment to acceptance in female patients with multiple sclerosis. Material and Methods: The research method was semi-experimental pre-test-post-test with control group. Among patients with multiple sclerosis who visited Imam Sadegh Hospital in Aligudarz, 30 were randomly selected and replaced in two experimental and control groups (15 in each group). The subjects answered the McCracken et al. Pain acceptance questionnaire has been filled in three stages: pre-test, post-test, and one month later in the follow-up phase. The experimental group underwent 10-hour group therapy sessions based on Welsh and Sorrel acceptance and commitment methods, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Results: To analyze the data, repeated analysis of variance was used. The results showed that the difference between the research stages, groups and the interaction of research stages and groups in changing pain acceptance was significant (p <0.05). Conclusion: These findings, while confirming the effectiveness of acceptance-based therapy and commitment to pain acceptance, showed that acceptance-based therapy and commitment can be used as a psychological intervention along with other interventions to reduce the problems of these patients.