The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Intervention on Anxiety, Depression and Burden of Caregivers of Multiple Sclerosis Patients Through Web Conferencing

Objective: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the common autoimmune diseases that affects the central nervous system. It is a chronic neurological disorder that leads to physical inability and cognitive abnormalities that restricts the individual’s ability to function independently. The problems of MS patients significantly affect their psychological well-being, also their caregivers. Studies have shown that caregivers of these patients suffer from anxiety, depression and caregiving burden. Considering the problems of MS patients and their caregivers such as problems related to commuting, traffic and long distances to health centers, weather conditions, shortage of time and health costs, the need for remote psychological intervention is necessary. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the effect of Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI) via a web conferencing application on reduction of anxiety, depression and burden of caregivers of patients with MS.  Methods: This is a pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental study with control group. A total of 30 caregivers of female patients with Relapsing-Remitting MS (RRMS) who were members of the MS Society in Tehran and Qom cities in 2017, and had criteria for entering the research were selected through purposeful sampling method. They were randomly divided into test (n=15) and control groups (n=15). Beck anxiety inventory, Beck depression inventory, Caregiver burden inventory, and five-facet mindfulness questionnaire were completed online in three stages (before the intervention, after the intervention, and one-month follow-up after intervention) by two groups. The test group received eight 2-hour sessions of MBI via a web conferencing software while the control group received no intervention. For analyzing the collected data, repeated-measures Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was performed in SPSS V. 23.  Results: There was a significant difference in the post-test scores of anxiety and caregiving burden between the two groups. MBI significantly reduced the anxiety, and caregiving burden in the test group. Although the mean score of depression in the post-test decreased in relation to pre-test, the difference was not significant. Conclusion: Internet-based MBI is effective in reducing anxiety, depression and burden of the caregivers of MS patients. Therefore, this method of therapy can be applied as an effective method to improve the quality of life and rehabilitate the caregivers of MS patients.