A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy and Schema Therapy on the Reduction of Depression among Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain in Tehran, Iran

Aim and Depression is one of the most common comorbidities of chronic pains such as chronic back pain and is the cause of limitations in the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBTs) in individuals with chronic pain. The existence of similar limitations and problems in cognitive-behavioral programs for the treatment of depression has caused a growing trend in the use of schema therapy by researchers in this regard. The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of CBT and schema therapy on the reduction of depression in Iranian patients with chronic low back pain.
Methods and Materials: The present clinical trial was conducted with a quasi-experimental design, pretest-posttest, fallow-up, and control group. In this study, 35 patients with chronic low back pain who were referred to pain specific clinics or neurosurgery clinics of Akhtar Hospital and Imam Hussein Hospital (AS) in Tehran, Iran, were selected through purposive sampling method. All patients completed the Chronic Pain Questionnaire, and Depression Subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) in the pretest, posttest, and 2 months follow-up stages. Moreover, the schema therapy group completed the 90-Item Short Form of Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-SF) in addition to the mentioned questionnaires. Mixed effect regression model was used in SPSS software to investigate the efficacy of the two therapy methods on the reduction of depression in patients with chronic back pain.
Findings: Results showed that CBT (P Both CBT and schema therapy are effective in improving symptoms of depression in patients with chronic low back pain and can be used as appropriate treatment methods in patients with chronic pain and depression.