Research Paper: Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Pain Control in Multiple ScleroticWomen

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common chronic diseases of the centralnervous system. This disease can deeply affect patient’s occupational and social activities. Thegoal of this psychological intervention is to help these people cope up correctly and efficientlywith the challenges posed by this disease.Objectives: This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of Acceptance and CommitmentTherapy (ACT) in pain control in a group of women with multiple sclerosis.Materials & Methods: The present controlled semi-experimental study was conducted on astatistical population of women with MS in the Sari MS society during 2014-2015. Eighteensubjects were selected using the convenience sampling and assigned to either control or theexperimental group. The experimental group was treated by ACT for 8 weeks (weekly 2 hours).Before the treatment, just after the treatment completion and, after one and a half months ofthe follow-up period, the assessment was performed. Experimental group data collection toolscomprised of the Nicholas’ Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ). Statistical covariance testswere used to analyze the results in the SPSS software version 16.Results: Pain control received the higher scores in the experimental group as compared tothe controls (P<0.001, F(1, 11)=26.53). This finding remained true during the follow-up period(P<0.001, F(1, 11)=56.55).Conclusion: The results confirmed the effectiveness of ACT in the pain control in women withMS, and this would help to broaden the horizon of the clinicali nterventions.