Efficacy of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy on Anxiety and Depression in Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Anxiety and depression are of common symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy can be one of the effective interventions to reduce anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on anxiety and depression in patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome.

This research was an educational clinical trial study and the study population consisted of patients with irritable bowel syndrome referring to Kermanshah health centers.  After compliance with the Rome-III diagnostic criteria and completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck depression Inventory, 40 patients was selected and randomly assigned in experimental and control groups (20 patients for each group). At the end of 8 sessions of cognitive therapy based on mind-consciousness for experimental group the post-test data was collected and analyzed by covariance analysis.

Findings of this study indicated that mindfulness therapy had a significant effect on reducing depression in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (p=0.000, F=19.99). Although this intervention had a positive effect on anxiety but it was not significant (F=0.011, p=0.918).

Depression in patients with irritable bowel syndrome may be relieved by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Modification of this technique is possible able to reduce the severity of anxiety in these patients.