The impact of acceptance and commitment therapy on pain catastrophizing: The case of hemodialysis patients in Iran

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in research and treatment of chronic painpsychological stress of the patients suffering from kidney failure and undergoing hemodialysis treatment.The present study set out to investigate the practical effectiveness of acceptance and commitmenttherapy on improving the pain catastrophizing of hemodialysis patients. A quasi‑experimental designwas used in which a target sample of 30 hemodialysis patients, who received treatment at DolatabadHemodialysis Center, Isfahan, Iran, volunteered to participate in this study. They were then randomlydivided into two groups (i.e., control and experimental groups), 15 each. Based on acceptance andcommitment approach, the experimental sample received group‑based instruction during an eightsession period offered twice a week. The participants in both treatment and control groups weregiven pain catastrophizing scale before and after the treatment. The findings revealed that participantsreceiving group instruction based on acceptance and commitment training approach showedremarkably lower pain catastrophizing compared with those in the control group