Comparative Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Psychotherapy versus Acceptance or Commitment Therapy on Stress Level in Dialysis Patients

Dialysis patients are encountering many psychological distresses aggravating their psycho-social problems. Currently, the third wave of psychological treatment has surpassed other treatments in solving the problems of these patients. This article aimed to study the comparative effectiveness of mindfulness-based psychotherapy versus acceptance and commitment therapy on stress level in dialysis patients.
This pilot study (trial with pretest, posttest and control group) was conducted on 30 dialysis patients in 2014 in one of the hospitals in Bojnurd city. Data were collected by standard DASS-21 questionnaire and was analyzed with SPSS 21 software and descriptive tests, chi-square, Fisher's exact, variance and covariance analysis were employed.
Results of the study showed that despite the effectiveness of both interventions on stress reduction of dialysis patients, mindfulness-based psychotherapy was meaningfully more efficient than acceptance and commitment therapy (p=0.003).
Mindfulness based group psychotherapy can be implemented to reduce stress in dialysis patients. However, due to diverse therapeutic conditions and patients’ dealing with daily stressful situations, it seems that patient’s acceptance and commitment therapy can be more effective than group therapy.