The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy on Anxiety, Rumination and Fatigue in Women with Multiple Sclerosis

Introduction: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that destroys the nervous and central systems and is the main cause of non-traumatic neurological disability in adults. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) in anxiety, rumination and fatigue in women with MS. Materials and Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all women with MS who were covered by the MS Association of Mazandaran province in 2021. The sample of this study was 30 women from the statistical population who were selected based on inclusion criteria and then randomly divided into two groups of 15 people. Data collection tools in this study included the Zung Anxiety Questionnaire, the Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow rumination questionnaire, and the Krupp & Pollina fatigue questionnaire. Then, Therapeutic interventions (MBCT) were performed on the experimental group during 8 sessions, 90-minutes each session, once a week. The control group did not receive any training. Data were analyzed by SPSS22 software using multivariate analysis of covariance Results: The findings revealed that the mean scores of anxiety and rumination were significantly reduced compared to the control group (p<0/001). However, no significant decrease was observed in fatigue scores compared to the control group (p>0/05). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that MBCT reduces anxiety and rumination in women with MS but does not have any effects on their fatigue.